Ohio AG Yost Supports Toledo Private Schools' In-Person Efforts

COLUMBUS, OH – Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost maintains that an order issued by the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department requiring schools to be closed for in-person instruction for students in grades 7-12 until early 2021 violated the constitutional rights of three Christian schools and another organization.

Yost on Monday filed a brief with the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the three schools and Citizens For Community Values (CCV) and has given the health department until the end of business on Tuesday to respond to the brief.

Monclova Christian Academy, Emmanuel Christian School, St. John’s Jesuit School and CCV filed a lawsuit in federal court against the health department, which issued the order that closed schools after Thanksgiving until Jan. 11 to limit the spread of the coronavirus. While schools were ordered to be closed for that period, the health department did not issue the same order to businesses like gyms and casinos, which, according to Yost’s brief, violates the constitutional rights of the schools that are fighting the order.

According to the brief, the order issued by the health department violates the free exercise clause of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits the government from discriminating against religion. The clause states that (the government) must “justify why (religious institutions) are excluded from that favored class.”

“Here, the Department has not justified treating religious schools worse that casinos, gyms or numerous other businesses,” the brief states.

According to the Toledo Blade, a U.S. District Court Judge denied a motion for a temporary restraining order that had been requested by the schools and CCV. That led the schools and the organization to take action by filing the suit on Friday, which asks the court to expedite proceedings in regard to the health department's order. The order allows for religious classes and other ceremonies to be held but does not allow for in-person instruction at the school. The order also prohibits any extracurricular activities and sports to be held at the school buildings as well as games or team practices.

The brief said that the state has taken on interest in the case because it has an interest in stopping government entities from violating Ohioans right to free exercise of religion. Yost also said that the state is questioning the effectiveness of nine months of remote learning, which many schools have been forced to rely on throughout much of the fall and winter as the pandemic has continued.

The brief states that the resolution introduced by the health department will “substantially burden religious practice” because in-person education is essential to religious beliefs. In pointing to other previous court rulings that found in favor of religious organizations, Yost maintains that the schools and the community organization will prove that the health department’s order violates the constitutional rights of the plaintiffs and asks the court to allow the schools to return to in-person instruction.