Virginia Schools Defy Governor’s Mask-Optional Policy, Isolate Students Who Refuse to Wear Mask

A school bus is seen during a safety event for children at Trailside Middle School, in Ashburn, Va., on Aug. 25, 2015. Paul J. Richards/AFP via Getty Images

Some students in Virginia have been isolated from their mask-wearing peers after their parents sent them back to school without a mask per Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order, reports say.

Jan. 24 marks the first day that Youngkin’s order took effect. Signed hours after the Republican governor assumed office, the order allows parents to “elect for their children not to be subject to any mask mandate in effect at the child’s school or educational program.”