The Pennsbury School District is being sued by a group of parents who want to stop the COVID-19 masking mandate.
Parents Athena Argyrs, Richard Mattis, and Bradford Child filed a lawsuit against the school district that serves Falls Township, Lower Makefield Township, Tullytown Borough, and Yardley Borough last Friday, according to the county court system docket.
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The lawsuit seeks for a Bucks County Court of Common Pleas judge to make declarations on whether the school district can require students to wear masks during in-person education and on buses and whether students with religious and/or philosophical objects have to follow masking requirements. It also seeks a permanent injunction on the district’s health and safety plan, which requires students and staff to mask up during in-person classes and on buses.
According to the complaint, Argyris’ child had “outbursts” when he had to wear a mask at school last year and became anxious. The lawsuit claims that the boy has become reclusive, had his grades drop, and had difficulty focusing in classes.
Mattis claimes his daughter has trouble communicating with teachers and peers due to wearing a mask and also “frequently gets light-headed.” The filing also alleges that Mattis’ daughter came home crying almost every day toward the end of last school year due to the safety precaution.
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Child’s student has reported difficulty breathing due to wearing a mask.
“Additionally, the Child family has medical and philosophical objections to wearing masks, as the Child family believes that masks cause more harm than they prevent,” the lawsuit states.
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The lawsuit notes that the current COVID-19 mitigation measures that apply to masking in schools are under the state’s Disease Prevention and Control Law of 1955, which relies on orders from the state health secretary. It also states the law allows for county health department to have responsibility for disease prevention in their jurisdictions.
The lawsuit claims that the Bucks County Health Department’s guidance on masking, which changed several times in August, is not a requirement.
Chadwick Schee, an attorney at the law firm of Tucker R. Hull LLC, is representing Argyris, Mattis, and Child in the case.
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The Pennsbury School District was already requiring masks for schools for the start of the school year prior to the state’s order.
“The district just received notification of the lawsuit, and we are reviewing it with the district solicitor. The Pennsbury School District remains committed to providing a safe learning environment for all students and staff. We are operating in accordance with orders issued on August 31, 2021, by the Pennsylvania Department of Health,” Pennsbury spokesperson Jen Neill said.
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State Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, a Republican from Centre County, is part of a lawsuit with parents from three school districts asking a judge to block the state’s mask mandate for schools.
The Pennsylvania School Boards Association has said the state should have let school districts decide on masking mandates, but the Education Law Center was in support of the state’s mandate, which occurred as many school districts were starting their first days of the 2021-2022 school year.
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