JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A group of parents have filed a lawsuit against the Episcopal School of Jacksonville over its mask requirement.
In court documents filed Thursday, parents claim the school is requiring only unvaccinated students to wear masks.
According to the school's website, masks are required for everyone unless a parent of a vaccinated child opts their child out of wearing a mask.
In a statement sent to First Coast Thursday night, the school said the requirement is a 30-day temporary policy.
You can view the school's statement and a copy of the lawsuit below.
Episcopal School of Jacksonville considers protecting the health and safety of our students as its highest priority. Episcopal also believes that having children in school is essential to their learning and growth. Our protocols stem from these two guiding principles.
Working closely with our COVID-19 medical advisory team and following guidance from national health organizations’ best practices to 1) ensure children’s health during the pandemic and 2) limit quarantines, Episcopal conveyed to its parent body on August 6 the decision to require masks for all students and teachers for a temporary 30-day period beginning with the opening of school.
Our guidelines provided an opt-out of mask-wearing for students and employees who are vaccinated. Parents and employees who make the choice to opt-out were given instructions on how to proceed (see esj.org/covid)
As an independent, faith-based school, Episcopal is not subject to the Governor’s Executive Order 21-175 or the Florida Department of Health’s emergency rules for public schools.
Episcopal will continue to closely monitor local health conditions and will modify protocols as the situation in our community warrants.