Blankingship & Keith Wins Important Decision for 7 Virginia School Districts

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Craig Schultz, Marketing and  
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Fairfax, Va., February 9, 2022 – In a widely watched court case of national significance, Blankingship & Keith Education Law and Litigation attorneys John F. Cafferky, William B. Porter, and Michael K. Kim, representing the School Boards of Alexandria City, Arlington County, Fairfax County, Falls Church City, Hampton City, Prince William County, and Richmond City before the 17th Circuit Court of Virginia, won a temporary injunction of Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s mask-optional executive order for students in Virginia public schools. 

Judge Louise M. DiMatteo, siding with the seven School Boards and the 350,000 students they serve, issued a temporary injunction against Governor Youngkin’s Executive Order 2. 

The case centered on the question of whether Youngkin, through his emergency powers as governor, could override the decisions of local school boards to provide in-person instructions in ways that adhere to federal COVID-19 mitigation strategies by following the Center for Disease Control’s Covid guidelines "to the maximum extent practicable" as state law requires them to do. Judge DiMatteo decided he could not. 

News of the widely awaited decision was featured on major national news outlets, including CNN, ABC News, NBC News, the Washington Post, and NPR, as well as on local news outlets. 

Based in Fairfax, Virginia, Blankingship & Keith, PC is a regional law firm with 40 lawyers, serving clients throughout Northern Virginia and the Commonwealth.