Judge says Fresno-area school can continue with in-person classes, despite COVID-19

Immanuel Schools in Reedley, the private Christian school that has defied Fresno County’s health officials’ orders not to reopen, can continue to operate classes, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Judge D. Tyler Tharpe denied the Fresno County Environmental Health Department’s request for a temporary injunction. County officials tried to stop the district from teaching on campus, arguing that the private school was putting its students, staff and community at risk.

But Tharpe said the county did not make a sufficient legal argument to justify issuing an injunction. He did, however, set a hearing on Sept. 15 to take up the matter again.

The school’s attorney Jennifer Bursch of Murrieta argued that the county’s order preventing in-person teaching was a violation of the state’s constitution. The school is part of a lawsuit currently before the California State Supreme Court. The court is expected to meet Friday.

Aside from the constitutional issues, Bursch claims the school has achieved herd immunity based on a study done by one of the parents, a pathologist.

“I don’t know how the county can show irreparable harm,” she said. “It’s already been 12 days and the schools have had no issue.”

County lawyer anticipates state Supreme Court ruling

County Counsel Daniel Cederborg said that while he was disappointed with the judge’s ruling, he said the case pending before the state Supreme Court could decide the issue of whether the state and county has the authority to order schools to close to protect the public health.

Currently, state health officials have prohibited all in-person instruction until Fresno County gets off the state’s COVID-19 monitoring list for 14 consecutive days. That has yet to occur.

But Immanuel Schools’ leaders didn’t want to wait and openly defied the county’s orders by opening the K-12 school’s doors to students Aug. 13. The school and a large number of parents believe in-person teaching is best for students and can be done safely, if safety precautions are used.

Immanuel Superintendent Ryan Wood and the school’s Board of Trustees released a statement Tuesday applauding the judge’s ruling and looking forward to the state Supreme Court hearing.

“Since returning to school on August 13th, we have seen God’s hand move mightily on our campus and throughout our community,” the statement says. “We have seen first-hand the importance of having school on campus based on the excitement of our students and communication with our families, while also not having a single COVID related illness.”

Students rally outside courthouse

Prior to Tuesday’s hearing at the B.F. Sisk courthouse, about 450 Immanuel Schools students, staff and community members came out to show their support. Many carried American flags, but few wore face masks or were socially distancing.

One supporter, Janet Poplin, a retired nurse from Fresno, said it was her choice not to a wear a mask. She also didn’t see anything wrong with dozens of students gathered in clusters, without masks.

“They are young and they are less vulnerable,” she said. “And we are all going to have to learn to live with this.”

Poplin said she and her husband take precautions such as hand washing, using wipes and masks when indoors. “We do what is sensible,” she said.

Immanuel parent Laura Brautigam said she doesn’t feel the state has done a good job of justifying why some businesses can stay open and others can’t.

“The state has been very inconsistent,” she said. “And based on my research I don’t understand why the schools had to close down.”

This story was originally published August 25, 2020 at 4:51 PM.