SAN DIEGO—A judge indicated Dec. 20 that he will rule against the San Diego Unified School District in a lawsuit challenging its vaccine mandate for students. In a tentative ruling issued Monday morning, San Diego Superior Court Judge John Meyer said the district’s mandate, which does not permit religious or personal belief exemptions, contradicts state law, because implementing such mandates without exemptions can be imposed only by the legislature. Meyer also said that while students are required to receive some vaccinations in order to attend in-person school, adding COVID-19 to the list of required vaccinations without allowing personal belief exemptions is another area that lies only with the state. Under the district’s roadmap, unvaccinated students must take part in remote learning via independent study. By the start of the district’s second semester on Jan. 24, unvaccinated students will not be allowed to continue with in-person instruction unless they have an approved medical exemption. With a final ruling expected later, further arguments …