Three Toledo, Ohio area Christian schools and a state-wide organization of evangelical and Catholic schools filed suit yesterday in an Ohio federal district court challenging a Health Department's COVID-19 Resolution requiring secondary schools to end in-person teaching. The complaint (full text) in Monclova Christian Academy v. Toledo-Lucas County Health Department, (ND OH, filed 12/7/2020), alleges in part:
If the Resolution is allowed to take effect, on December 4 at 4:00 p.m. in Lucas County, one will still be free to crowd in retail stores, go bowling with friends, go to the movies, attend concerts, go to a hair salon, get a manicure or massage or tattoo, or even go to the casino. Although there are limits and restrictions that govern how such in-person activities must operate, the Resolution has not prohibited them or altered the way in which those groups of people gather or use facilities. Yet, starting on December 4 at 4:00 p.m., Grades 7-12 (or 9-12 depending on school configuration) are strictly prohibited from attending in-person school, even when religious education is a deep and sincere facet of one’s faith, and even when those operating religious schools are abiding by strict social distancing and hygiene standards.
Citizens for Community Values issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit.
