FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — More than two dozen Catholic school students and their parents have lost an initial appeal in challenging a Kentucky health department’s efforts to control a chickenpox outbreak.
The students claim the health agency’s actions infringed on their religious beliefs.
But a three-judge panel of the Kentucky Court of Appeals sided with a trial court judge who ruled in April that the Northern Kentucky Health Department acted within its authority.
The health agency canceled extracurricular activities and later imposed a temporary ban on school attendance for unvaccinated students as the chickenpox outbreak spread.
Last week’s ruling applied to the refusal to impose a temporary injunction on behalf of the Catholic school students and their parents.
Their attorney says they’ll appeal to the Kentucky Supreme Court.
