A panel of Alberta appeals court judges has dismissed an appeal by parents of five immunocompromised Alberta kids.

Lawyers for the families, known only by initials, had argued the children’s Charter rights were violated in 2022 when the province stopped masking requirements and barred school boards from enforcing their own masking mandates.

The Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) joined the quest for an appellate review of the 2022 decision by Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Grant Dunlop to let stand an order by Alberta’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw ending the COVID- 19 requirement for students to mask in schools, and the related “LaGrange statement” made by Alberta’s then-education minister purporting to restrict the ability of school boards to impose masking requirements.