Fulton County Schools’ mask mandate remains in effect after a judge denied an emergency request from parents seeking to bar the district from enforcing it.
Atlanta attorney Ray Smith III, who represents 11 families who sued the school board last month, said he plans to appeal Tuesday’s decision.
The ruling signed by Superior Court of Fulton County Judge Eric Dunaway states that there’s no evidence to show that mask-wearing causes students irreparable harm. He denied the request for a temporary restraining order that would overturn the mandate.
His order states that “the court cannot find that the threat of injury to plaintiffs outweighs the threatened harm that lifting the mask mandate would impose upon defendants and the other constituents they serve.”
Fulton County Schools spokesman Brian Noyes said the district is grateful for the judge’s decision.
“As a school district, we have assessed the data and the needs of our community, and we appreciate the court’s recognition of those efforts. Our focus has always been on keeping students, staff, and the community safe and doing everything we can to keep schools open to in-person learning. Our position on masks has helped us do that,” he said in a written statement.
The district required masks in buildings last school year but initially told parents masks would be optional this year.
Fulton changed its rules in early August after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised mask-wearing in schools and local COVID-19 cases began to increase. The district now requires masks in schools located in cities with more than 100 cases per 100,000 residents over a 14-day period.
All schools currently meet that threshold, meaning masks must be worn in all buildings. From the start of the school year through Oct. 1, the Fulton district has recorded 3,617 cases of COVID-19 among students and staff.
Parents upset over the mandate sued the school board, saying that forced mask-wearing creates physical and mental health difficulties for their children and that the district does not have the authority to require face coverings.
More than 240 people watched a virtual court hearing on Friday during which the judge heard arguments for and against issuing a restraining order.
After Tuesday’s ruling, Christy McCranie, a plaintiff who organized an online campaign that has raised more than $30,000 so far to support the litigation, told supporters in an online update that “this is a marathon not a sprint.”
“Our attorneys continue to say we will experience some losses and some wins. Know that much of what is being done is staging for the larger battles ahead,” she wrote in a post on the crowd-funding page.
Dunaway’s ruling hints that may not be an easy fight. The judge notes in his order that the plaintiffs “have a significant amount of precedent to overcome with respect to their claims.”
He wrote that courts nationwide, including in another federal case in Georgia, “have consistently held that there is no constitutional right not to wear a mask.”
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