Immanuel Schools files complaint against Fresno County, aims to keep in-person classes
Immanuel Schools in Reedley stepped up its legal fight against Fresno County on Friday by accusing county officials in a complaint of denying the school’s students their constitutional rights to an education.
The school’s cross-complaint is in reply to Fresno County’s attempts to force it to stop in-person teaching. The complaint comes days after the California State Supreme Court this week denied a request by Immanuel and other private schools to force the state to abandon it’s distance learning policy.
The cross-complaint alleges distance learning does not provide an adequate education to students and that young people are a low risk for contracting the novel coronavirus.
It also says the students are being denied their due process rights, in violation of the 14th Amendment, by: “mandating distanced-learning in most circumstances, which effectively provides no or unequal access to education.”
Although a Fresno County Superior Court judge on Aug. 25 denied the county’s request for a temporary restraining order against Immanuel Schools, the county is still pursuing a preliminary injunction against the school. That hearing will take place on Sept. 15 in Judge. D. Tyler Tharpe’s courtroom.
Fresno County officials declined to comment about the cross complaint. And Immanuel Schools along with its attorney Jennifer Bursch issued a statement.
“We believe we must take this legal action to assure that we have the opportunity to put all of our arguments in front of the court,” the statement said.
They also said that in the four weeks the school has been in session and holding in-person classes there has not been a single case of COVID-19. And students are thriving.
“Our families are regularly telling us how they are seeing improvements in their child’s academic motivation, while also watching their physical, emotional, and spiritual health improve. These are undisputed benefits as to why on-campus instruction is needed and desired by most parents for their children,” the statement said.
The county and the private, faith-based school have been tangled in a legal battle over the issue of in-person teaching. The state’s health department has forbid schools in Fresno County and many other counties from returning to the classroom until they are off the state’s COVID-19 monitoring list for 14 consecutive days.
But Immanuel Schools has opposed the state’s order and reopened to in-person teaching on Aug. 13. That same day, the Interim Health Officer Dr. Rais Vohra ordered Immanuel Schools to immediately halt all in-person classroom teaching until the county was off of the state’s monitoring list.
School leaders, with the support of students and parents, refused to shut its doors, claiming the state and county’s actions were unlawful. They also believe the school community has achieved herd immunity, based on a 198-blood sample survey of students, teachers and parents at the private Christian K-12.
The survey, done by an Immanuel parent who is a pathologist, has been disputed by county officials.
