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By The Defender Staff
Children’s Health Defense (CHD) today put Washington, D.C., school officials on notice that CHD will sue the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) if it mandates COVID-19 vaccines for schoolchildren.
In a letter to Christina Grant, Ph.D., state superintendent of education, CHD Acting President Laura Bono wrote:
“Should OSSE choose to go forward with mandating an unnecessary COVID-19 vaccine that fails to prevent transmission or infection from COVID-19 for children who could experience side effects, injury or death, be prepared to defend this unconstitutional policy in court.”
The district first announced the mandate on July 19, 2022, stating that the COVID-19 vaccine would be a requirement for Washington, D.C., children age 12 and older to attend school. On Aug. 26, 2022, OSSE delayed compliance until Jan. 3, 2023.
On Nov. 10, 2022, OSSE announced another delay, stating it wouldn’t enforce the vaccine mandate until the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year, which “is quickly approaching,” Bono wrote.
It is unclear if the upcoming year’s policy will require COVID-19 vaccination and 100% compliance or whether the district will, as it’s done in the past, refuse to offer remote learning options for unvaccinated students.
In March 2022, CHD prevailed in a lawsuit against the mayor of the District of Columbia, the D.C. Department of Health and D.C. public schools after the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued an order granting a preliminary injunction prohibiting them from enforcing the D.C. Minor Consent for Vaccination Amendment Act of 2020 — a law that would have allowed children as young as 11 to be vaccinated without the knowledge or consent of their parents.
