Judge Orders Perk Valley SD To Reinstate Mandatory Masking

PERKIOMEN VALLEY, PA — All students, staff and visitors to Perkiomen Valley School District buildings will have to wear face masks starting Wednesday through Feb. 8 in response to a judicial order that came out of litigation against the suburban Montgomery County district.

The district announced in a community news bulletin that a judge ordered the temporary restraining order requiring the face coverings in response to a federal complaint that had been filed against the district over its decision to rescind mandatory universal masking regardless of vaccination status.

"All students, staff, and visitors are required to wear masks when in our school buildings or as part of extracurricular activities, participating or spectating," the district posted on its website. "The mask requirement extends to any committee meetings, community education classes, and all activities being held in our school buildings."

Earlier this week, Patch reported on a federal lawsuit filed by a class of plaintiffs representing students with special needs and other disabilities who say removing mask requirements for everyone while inside school buildings puts them at risk of contracting COVID-19.

The lawsuit is playing out in federal court in Philadelphia.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Wendy Beetlestone granted a temporary restraining order, according to court records in the case at the U.S. District Court For the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The judge says the order in favor of the plaintiffs is due to the fact that there is a substantial likelihood that the plaintiffs will succeed on the merits in the case, and due to the fact that the plaintiffs will likely suffer "irreparable harm, including exposure to present and existential threats to health and safety, increased risk of serious bodily injury and/or death, and lost instructional time in the absence of a temporary restraining order."

The order enjoins the school district from enforcing the school board's decision to rescind universal masking, a decision that came out of a board vote in mid-December.

The judge also ordered the district to immediate make the community aware that universal mandatory masking is once again policy at the district, at least until the temporary restraining order ends in early February while the case continues to play out in federal court.

The plaintiffs were given the ability to file a motion for a preliminary injunction no later than Friday, and the defendants can file a brief in opposition to the motion no later than Feb. 1.

The Perkiomen Valley School District appears to be one of the first districts in Montgomery County facing litigation over a mask policy.