A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order that will invalidate the process established by the Warren County School District to permit parents to exempt their children from state mask requirements. The action stems from a Monday lawsuit filed in federal court by nine parents. Photo by Josh Cotton

WARREN, Pa. — A federal judge has granted a temporary restraining order against the Warren County School District that halts the district’s procedure that effectively made masks optional in school.

“Starting tomorrow, Wednesday, October 6th, mask exceptions will not be permitted as a means for not wearing a mask,” according to a statement on the district’s website.

“Only those students who have exemptions and accommodations through the 504 and IDEA processes will be accepted.”

A lawsuit was filed Monday against the Warren County School District over its decision to provide a path for parents to opt out of their child wearing masks. At issue is the district’s Sept. 13 decision to permit parents to sign a waiver in order to exempt their children from state mask requirements without supporting medical documentation.

A complaint for injunctive relief was filed on Monday in the Western Pennsylvania U.S. District Court in Erie. The plaintiffs are identified as nine minors “by and through their parent,” all of whom are identified by initials only.

Defendants are the Warren County School District as well as each of the school board’s nine members.

U.S. District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter granted a temporary restraining order in the case Tuesday afternoon.

“(T)he Court finds that good cause exists for the issuance of a temporary restraining order because Plaintiffs are likely to prevail on the merits of their procedural due process claim brought under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments,” Baxter said in her order.

“The facts demonstrate that Plaintiffs will suffer immediate and irreparable injury if a temporary restraining order is not granted,” Baxter continued. She was critical of the district’s action which “occurred without any advance notice, sufficient hearing, of any of the standard procedures for changing School District policy.”

She concluded that a “temporary restraining order will serve the public interest as well as the health, safety and welfare of the school students in the School District.”

Baxter stated in the order that the “effect of this order maintains the status quo of the August 31, 2021, Order of the Acting Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health which required universal masking for all school students within the Commonwealth” and will remain in effect until further court action.

“This September 13, 2021 vote was based on ignorance due to lack of inquiry into facts,” a memorandum in support of the complaint suggests. “The board held a rushed hearing that provided only 24 hours’ notice to the public and provided no notice that a policy vote was taking place.”

The suit was filed by Kenneth Behrend, a Pittsburgh-based attorney, and alleges violations of the Civil Rights Act, the American Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act.

Superintendent Amy Stewart declined to comment on the record regarding the case and Arthur Stewart, who made the Sept. 13 motion, deferred to Board President Donna Zariczny.

“The District is aware of the lawsuit and we have no comment,” Zariczny said.

The complaint asserts information from the CDC that the “risk of COVID-19 exposure and infection is increased by the failure to wear masks” and that the goal of masking is to keep schools open “for as many students as possible.”

While details on the plaintiffs are not included in the documentation filed Monday, the complaint does state that the plaintiffs are “children with health disabilities and children under 12 who are unable to be protected from COVID-19 by a vaccine.”

They point out a perceived hypocrisy in the board’s action – namely that it was taken during a virtual meeting.

The complaint states that the board is “providing itself with greater protection from infection from COVID-19 than they are providing to the school children” in that they have “taken what it describes as the ‘best’ action to avoid non-mask wearing attendees at school board meetings by holding virtual meetings to decrease the risk of exposure and infection from COVID-19 to the school board members.”

Their contention is that the district’s policy “violates Constitutional substantive and procedural due process and will result in irreparable harm” to the plaintiffs, WCSD staff, students, visitors and the community.