Resident urges board to ban vaccine mandates, cites recent court rulings

Susan Taylor Maroney addressed the board during the public-comment portion, urging board members to oppose vaccine mandates and to accept medical exemptions. Maroney cited two court cases by name and said judges had ordered students admitted with medical exemptions in those districts.

Maroney said she had "7 copies" of a packet for board members and described a 30-question handout she said was intended for legislators, doctors, nurses, school board members and parents. She read portions of the packet aloud and asked: "The U.S. Constitution guarantees parents the right to direct the care, education, and upbringing of their children as they see fit. Does that include making health care and medical decisions for one's children without government interference, coercion, cost, or penalty?" She then answered, "Yes," as part of her reading of the material.

Maroney also referenced two court cases by name, saying one decision in April involving Starpoint required the district to accept the student, and that a more recent ruling in the Oceanside School District produced a similar result. She told the board she had copies of the relevant pages of the Starpoint decision and an article describing the Oceanside case and said she would like to provide the materials to the board.

The board did not engage in a public back-and-forth on the substance of the claims; meeting audio records speakers thanking Maroney after her comments.

The statements reported here reflect comments made by a public speaker during the board's public-comment period. They are reported as comments the speaker made; the board did not record any immediate policy action or formal response to the requests during the meeting.

Maroney: "Are you willing to immediately initiate legislation to ban vaccine mandates?" She told board members she understood they could not answer at that moment but said it was "something to think about."