HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - A Connecticut couple seeking to stop the public release of additional information about schools’ immunization rates is asking the Department of Public Health to expedite its decision.

Brian and Kristen Festa, of Bristol, said Saturday they asked the department for a declaratory ruling on their petition because officials plan to release additional data this month.

A Superior Court judge dismissed their lawsuit in September. The couple had sought to stop the release of additional immunization information and have school-by-school immunization data from 2017-18 removed online.

The judge said they hadn’t exhausted their “administrative remedies” with public health officials.

Parents of an unvaccinated son, Brian and Kristen Festa say they’ve suffered mental and emotional distress due to hateful statements from the public since the release of immunization rate data in May.

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