NEWS RELEASE: Effort to block San Diego Unified COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Fails

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NEWS RELEASE


Effort to block San Diego Unified COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate fails

Court rejects injunction request by North County group


December 2, 2021


SAN DIEGO – San Diego Superior Court judge John Meyer has denied an emergency application to temporarily suspend enforcement of the San Diego Unified School District's requirement that students be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus by the start of the second semester in January.


Under the mandate approved by the Board of Education to help prevent the spread of the virus in schools and the community, San Diego Unified will require students who are 16 and older (as of Nov. 1, 2021) and who wish to continue learning in-person to be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4, 2022, excluding those with an approved medical exemption.


"This is obviously an important topic to many people, for many reasons," said Mark Bresee, outside counsel for San Diego Unified. "We are pleased that Judge Meyer took action to ensure that the matter is heard and decided soon, but with sufficient opportunity for the District and the Court to thoroughly address the legal claims before making a decision. He made the right decision."

The emergency application consisting of almost 500 pages was filed yesterday shortly before noon, which did not give the District or the Court appropriate time to address the filing.

In denying the application, Judge Meyer stated that there was no emergency justifying immediate judicial intervention, and noted that the attorneys for the plaintiff, the Let Them Choose organization, waited more than five weeks after filing the lawsuit on Oct. 12, 2021 to even initiate the process of scheduling a hearing.


In court, Judge Meyer and the attorneys set the matter for hearing on Dec. 20, 2021, and discussed with attorneys for both sides the potential to consolidate this lawsuit with another similar lawsuit filed by an attorney from New York.


"Combating this virus takes a multi-pronged approach and vaccines are an essential component of that," said district physician Dr. Howard Taras, a professor of pediatrics at UC San Diego. "We are encouraged that the district is back on the right track to create and maintain safe learning spaces for students by maximizing the proportion of students vaccinated."


Media Contact: Communications Director Maureen Magee, (619) 381-7930, mmagee@sandi.net

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