Congratulations to PERK and Children's Health Defense- Ca Legal Warrior Mom Team: Nicole Pearson, Rita Barnett Rose, and Jessica Barsotti. Thanks to the lawsuit against LAUSD for their illegal Covid-19 vaccine mandate for students, the Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho announced that after consultation with health experts and its medical director, the District will make a recommendation to align with the state of California’s student requirement for COVID-19 vaccinations. Right now, there is NO California state Covid-19 vaccine mandate.
The LAUSD school board will formally vote May 10th.
LEGAL TEAM PRESS RELEASE
Children’s Health Defense, California Chapter and PERK v. Los Angeles Unified School District
April 28, 2022
Los Angeles, California – Children’s Health Defense – California Chapter (“CHD-CA”) and PERK achieved yet another major victory for children, families, and everyone’s right to medical freedom and privacy, this time against the second-biggest school district in the nation: the Los Angeles Unified School District (“LAUSD”).
CHD-CA and PERK sued LAUSD for illegally imposing a COVID-19 vaccine requirement on its students ages 12 years and up on the grounds that the District lacked legal authority to impose such a mandate, and were unlawfully violating students’ and families’ fundamental and constitutional right to privacy and to make medical decisions for themselves; segregating and discriminating amongst schoolchildren; and depriving children of their fundamental, constitutional right to an education, among other misconduct. After CHD-CA and PERK asked for a temporary restraining order in December 2021 to stop the exclusion of 32,000 students from in-person services and forced enrollment into the District’s overwhelmed, failing remote, independent study program, LAUSD suddenly changed course and on January 14 voted to delay implementation of the mandate and removal of students until the Fall of 2022.
But CHD-CA and PERK kept going.
On April 15, 2022, our attorneys at FACTS LAW TRUTH JUSTICE went to court to oppose a motion by the District to dismiss CHD-CA’s and PERK’s lawsuit. LAUSD claimed that the COVID-19 vaccine requirement was not actually a mandate, but a “placement determination” within the authority of the District, and that it was not discriminating against schoolchildren or depriving them of any rights – after all, it was their “choice” not to get the shot – but our FLTJ Warriors would not relent and argued that, even if the mandate was “just” a “placement determination,” it still violated California law because the Education Code does not allow school districts to force children into independent study without the consent of the student and his or her parents, and must allow children to return to campus whenever they wish. The Code also requires independent study program students to have equal access to on-campus services and facilities, and comparable, not sub-par, learning.
After over an hour of oral argument – and yet another tentative ruling against CHD-CA and PERK – Judge Beckloff shockingly informed counsel that he needed to take his tentative under submission, and we have been awaiting his decision:
After almost two weeks of deliberation, Judge Beckloff finally issued his final ruling on April 25, 2022 overruling the District’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit without leave to amend. Instead, Judge Beckloff granted Petitioners leave to amend to clarify various violations of the Education Code, and overruled the District’s motion to dismiss other claims, recognizing that CHD-CA, PERK, and FLTJ had presented legitimate claims that could proceed in court.
But that is not it:
Today, less than 72 hours of the Court’s ruling, the District announced that it is recommending and will vote on May 10 “to align with the state of California’s student requirement for COVID-19 vaccinations delaying the effective date to no sooner than July 1, 2023.” In other words, in a same fashion the District saved face in light of our December hearing and rally and “delayed implementation” of its mandate to Fall 2022 “to allow families more time to comply with the mandate and get vaccinated,” the District is attempting to save face, again, now, and hold back its illegal mandate-masquerading-as-a-“placement”-policy until the State requires it. In other words: your CHD-CA, PERK, and FLTJ team was right: individual school districts do not have the authority to unilaterally require new vaccines, especially without satisfying the Legislature’s extensive procedural requirements and Due Process safeguards. And they do NOT have the right to force children who refuse to comply with these illegal mandates out of school and into independent study programs.
PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR MAY 10. We will be rallying there before the Board not just to ensure they pass the vote, but to tell them we are done. This is a call to action to every parent, every student, every concerned human being to show up, #RISEUP and shut down these illegal, unconstitutional dangerous mandates on our children, once and for all.
