Federal judge reinstates mandatory masks at North Allegheny

Students in the North Allegheny School District returned to classes from summer break Monday morning for full, in-person instruction with only a recommendation that they wear face masks while in school buildings.

By afternoon, the mask mandate was back following a federal court ruling.

On Sunday, a group of parents filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction to have the face mask requirement reinstated. Following an hour-long hearing Monday afternoon, U.S. District Judge Marilyn Horan found that the school board’s decision in mid-August to make masks optional violated due process rules, said attorney Alexander Saksen, who represented the parents who filed suit.

“I think there’s a sense of relief and appreciation for the court that it acted so quickly,” Saksen said.

District officials declined to comment on the lawsuit because it is pending litigation.

A change.org petition asking the district to require masks in school because of the surge in covid-19 transmission also has been created. So far, nearly 1,100 people have signed the online petition.

Last week, the school board voted to change the administration’s policy requiring masks and let parents decide whether their children should wear them in school.

That was the third change in the policy during the lead up to the start of school.

In late June the board approved a health and safety plan with an optional mask policy because, at the time, covid-19 transmission rates were dropping and the state had lifted its mask mandate.

The board also gave the district’s administration the authority to make changes to the plan without board approval.

As covid-19 transmissions began to spike in Allegheny County, district officials reversed the mask-optional policy back to requiring them until the rate declines.

But during the Aug. 18 board meeting, school directors voted 6-3 to go back to letting parents decide if their kids should wear masks.

Saksen said that at that meeting, the board did not provide any data to support implementing less-strict policies, which it needed to do given what it had said when it approved the safety plan at its June 23 meeting.

School directors Kevin Mahler, Allyson Minton and Elizabeth Warner voted against switching back to making masks optional.

District officials said the school board was planning to reconsider the mask policy during its Sept. 22 meeting.

The administration’s decision to reverse the policy on masks by making them mandatory was based on an analysis of covid-19 data from the last school year along with county and community statistics from the past month.

The Allegheny County Health Department and the district physician also were consulted when crafting the revised policy.

District officials also cited guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Allegheny County Health Department that students who wear masks and remain between 3- and 6-feet apart would not have to be quarantined if they come into contact with a person who has tested positive for covid-19.