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Injunction Halts Parkersburg School’s Single-Gender Classes
By: Associated Press, Regina Donizetti
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A Wood County school's single-gender classes are on hold while a lawsuit challenging their legality is heard in federal court.
US District Chief Judge Joseph Goodwin issued a preliminary injunction Wednesday halting the classes at Van Devender Middle School in Parkersburg for the remainder of the school year.
The American Civil Liberties Union requested the injunction.
Director of Secondary Education Mike Winland says school district officials expected the new classes to improve the learning environment for students.
"There was a lot of research done, and it was decided that the students would be able to really have a higher level of concentration if the the boys and the girls were separated from some classes," said Winland.
Winland says school officials believed they were not breaking any rules when the classes were organized.
"We believed that we were following all of the regulations and still hold fast that we have not been doing anything wrong to harm students," said Winland.
Winland says it is difficult to predict the outcome of the case.
But he says school officials will do everything they can to prepare for their defense in court.