Suburban Philly School District Sued Over Mask Mandate

TREDYFFRIN TOWNSHIP, PA — A Philadelphia law firm has filed suit against Tredyffrin Easttown School District challenging the District's mask mandate on the grounds that neither the state Health Department nor the School District has the authority to require mask-wearing in schools.

Four district residents are listed as Plaintiffs in the suit: Sarah Marvin, of Russell Road, Paoli; Andrew McLellan, Whitehorse Road, Malvern; Alicia Geerings, Laurel Lane, Wayne, and David Goveranti of Sugartown Road, Devon. Gary M. Samms will represent them for Obermayer, Rebbmann, Maxwell & Hippell, LLP who filed the lawsuit on Sept. 8.

The injunction argues the Pennsylvania Department of Health lacks regulatory authority to require healthy individuals who are not infected with a communicable disease to wear masks to prevent the transmission of Covid-19 in schools.

It further states that the Tredyffrin/Easttown School Board lacks regulatory authority to require healthy individuals who are not infected with a communicable disease to wear masks to prevent the transmission of Covid-19 in schools.

The lawsuit asserts the Aug. 31 decision by the TESD Board of Directors unfairly discriminates against conscientious religious objections to wearing face coverings by exempting only certain secular activities from the mask requirement.

The Tredyffrin-Easttown School District website explained the Aug. 31 decision in a statement saying, "The Acting Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health announced an order directing face coverings to be worn by all individuals aged two and over while in school. TESD’s COVID-19 Mitigation Plan currently includes such a requirement. The District will comply with all masking orders and will continue to monitor guidance and recommendations from our local, state, and federal public health officials."

The Pennsylvania DOH order directing face coverings in school can be read here.

The lawsuit also insists any religious exemption may not be conditioned on submitting to a different treatment than is required for secular exemptions.

The lawsuit says a blanket waiver of medical privacy rights under HIPAA should not be required to obtain a medical exemption from the mask requirement.

Defense attorneys for TESD are Deborah R. Stambaugh, Christina Gallagher, and Brian Richard Elias of Wisler Pearlstine, LLP.

A hearing is in the case scheduled at 9 a.m. Tuesday at 6th and Market streets, in Philadelphia, in courtroom 4B.

A group called Neighbors United has set up a webpage where people can support cases such as this one for "Unmask TE." The fund has raised $7,168 of its $30,000 goal.

The Neighbors United page states, "Children in the Tredyffrin-Easttown School District who are unable to wear face coverings/masks at school are being targeted, segregated and, and denied a public school education by the school. This is a direct violation of our children's First Amendment rights."

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