California Parents Sue Governor Newsom Over School Reopening

California parents are suing Governor Gavin Newsom to allow schools to open for in-person learning. They said their children are missing out on meaningful education.

The Southern California group of parents said that children are going to suffer academically and psychologically if schools still stay closed. They filed the suit on July 29.

Newsom announced last month that schools in individual California counties - both public and private - could not resume in-person classes when school restarts. He said the provinces are still seeing rising numbers for coronavirus cases, making it unsafe to resume classes on-site.

At the time, 32 out of the state's 58 counties were already on the list, reported NBC Bay Area. The list includes major cities like Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco.

In a virtual press conference about the lawsuit Thursday, the plaintiffs' lawyer Harmeet Dhillon said that they want the governor to "get out of the way." They propose to let the local parents, school boards, and small schools make the decisions themselves, Reuters said in their report.

There are about 6.7 million students in California. Most of its 1,000 school districts are set to restart the school year in mid-to-late August, NBC News reported.

Parents Argue 'Zero Academic Value'

One of the parents who filed a lawsuit against Newsom is Erica Sephton. She said she believes that online classes for elementary school-aged children will have "zero academic value," reported CBS Los Angeles.

She also argued that young children would not learn to socialize through online means.

"The negative effects of keeping schools closed far outweigh the risks of opening them," said Jesse Petrilla. He is the father of two boys.

He also said that, when schools closed in March, he noticed that his boys were not as motivated and excited for learning. Petrilla and his wife were worried that continued online learning would have "long-term effects, psychologically, if the schools remain closed."

The group also alleged that students would not be given equal access to education.

"Parents with wealth can go hire tutors," said Mark Meuser, an attorney with Dhillon Law Group. He added that parents without financial means would not have that kind of luxury.

Meuser believed that parents would be split in choosing between whether they have to work and feed their families or give up their jobs to keep close tabs on how their young kids are coping with online learning.

According to Meuser, the lawsuit's end goal is that communities will be given the power to decide what is best for the students.

"This is going to be a long-term problem. Let's on the local level find solutions that work for every locality," Sephton said.

Sephton said the coronavirus data now shows the youngest students are less at risk of contracting the virus but are more at risk of not learning their lessons remotely.

State Slams 'Inaccurate and Outdated' Beliefs

California slammed the "inaccurate and outdated beliefs" of the parents in a legal brief, reported The Hill.

In the brief, state officials countered the parents, saying the parents depended on incorrect beliefs during the early days of the pandemic. To be specific, the parents believe that COVID-19 had "minimal effect on children of any age."

The brief goes and, saying that school-age kids do spread the virus and stressed that opening schools for on-site classes would pose health risks.

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