 SAN FRANCISCO AP - A California private school has been ordered to pay 15,000 for defying a judges order to close classrooms and stop in-person teaching, in what may be the first judgment of its kind against a California school for violating health orders aimed at slowing the spread of coronavirus. Tuesdays decision in the Fresno County Superior Court ends a nearly three-month legal battle between Immanuel Schools, a private K-12 Christian school in Californias Central Valley, and county and state officials. Judge D. Tyler Tharpe said in his 11-page decision there was overwhelming evidence that Immanuel schools had violated his Sept. 15 order. He fined the school 50,000 but suspended 35,000 of the fine because of the schools commitment to hold in-person instruction under stricter rules that adhere to state and local health requirements. However, Tharpe said, he will lift the suspension and require the school to pay the full fine if it fails to comply with the stricter measures. Immanuel schools fought to keep their kids on campus, learning, where they belong, and today the judge decided that their choice to do that means they need to pay a sanction, the schools attorney, Jennifer Bursch, said in a statement. Although the judges order was unconstitutional, Immanuel is willing to pay the fine imposed by the court and move forward. Immanuel Schools, in Reedley, California, near Fresno, serves about 600 students. It opened its campus for the fall term on Aug. 13, in defiance of a public health order. At the time, Fresno County was on a state monitoring list because of rising COVID-19 infection rates. Schools on that list were not allowed to reopen for classes until statistics showed infection rates slowing. The school argued that... 