Judge Denies Emergency Motion For Mask Mandate For Final School Week

PERKIOMEN VALLEY, PA — Students attending the Perkiomen Valley School District in central Montgomery County will not be forced to wear masks as a COVID-19 mitigation measure for the final stretch of the 2021-22 school year after a federal judge denied an emergency petition by the plaintiffs in an ongoing lawsuit over the district's masking policy.

U.S. District Judge Wendy Beetlestone, sitting in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, denied the plaintiffs' motion for a temporary restraining order last week, the move effectively meaning students in Perkiomen Valley will have the option of whether or not to wear face masks for the final week of school.

The last day of school for students in the district is June 14.

Earlier this year, a group of students who consider themselves to be medically fragile filed the federal suit against the Perkiomen Valley School District and its board members over a decision to rescind mandatory universal masking, saying the move would essentially force them to learn remotely, something that violates their rights to in-person instruction.

Beetlestone previously ordered the district to reinstate universal masking, but that order was lifted after COVID-19 transmission rates declined in the region.

Recently, however, federal officials put Montgomery County back into the "high" category for community disease transmission.

Despite the reclassification, however, only a small number of districts in Montgomery County returned to forced masking, with most leaving masking optional.

The plaintiffs in the Perkiomen Valley case recently filed their motion for a temporary restraining order seeking to force the district to institute across-the-board masking for all students and staff during this final stretch of the 2021-22 school year, but the judge ruled against the plaintiffs.

Beetlestone's June 3 ordered denying the plaintiffs' motion did not lay out the reasons for her decision.

Minutes from the recent hearing were not available publicly on the court docket.

Local media reports, however stated that attorneys in the case said the judge's decision likely had to do with the fact that there are only a few days remaining in this school year.

The Perkiomen Valley case got a lot of media attention this past school year as it was one of only a small number of school districts in Pennsylvania that had faced litigation over a student masking policy.

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