3 parents sue over district’s masking
Edict unlawful, filing contends
BENTONVILLE — Three parents filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the school district seeking to overturn the district’s mask mandate.
The School Board, during a special meeting Aug. 11 that lasted more than four hours, voted 5-2 to require masks indoors and on buses for staff members and students ages 3 and older. Brent Leas, secretary, and Eric White, board president, voted against the measure.
Matthew Bennett, Elizabeth Bennett and Matt Sitton are listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
All three are Benton County residents and have children attending Bentonville schools, according to the petition for declaratory judgment.
The lawsuit says the district didn’t have the legal authority to require masks-wearing in schools and that the decision violates the personal liberties of families as secured by the U.S. and Arkansas constitutions. The lawsuit calls for a temporary block of the mask mandate detailed in the 2021-22 Bentonville Safe Schools Plan until a judgment can be made in the case.
“Because of this illegal act by the school board, parents must choose whether to send their children to school without masks and face disciplinary action, or with masks against their will at the risk of their psycho-social needs and developmental milestones,” according to a Thursday
news release from Story Law Firm, which is representing the plaintiffs in the case. “While the mask mandate may be the issue, this suit is entirely about whether the Bentonville School Board has the authority to enact this policy — the law is simple — they do not.”
Travis Story and Gregory Payne, both of Story Law Firm, are representing the plaintiffs.
“School districts in Arkansas simply don’t have authority to issue laws of general applicability concerning health issues such as this,” Story said.
An executive order from Gov. Asa Hutchinson or Jose Romero, Arkansas secretary of health, would be required to legally require masks in schools, as was the case for the 2020-21 school year, he said.
“Our hope is that the courts simply look at this and understand there’s a fundamental interest by parents, and therefore students in the district,” Story said, adding that he hopes the mask mandate will be found to be an unconstitutional violation of the district’s authority.
Superintendent Debbie Jones and all seven School Board members are listed as defendants in the case, according to the lawsuit.
“We were made aware of this situation Thursday morning,” said Leslee Wright, district communications director. “Our legal counsel is currently reviewing the matter, and we look forward to a vigorous defense of our district.”
The case has been assigned to Benton County Circuit Judge Xollie Duncan, according to the docket report.
The Aug. 11 decision to require masks was made amid community protest outside the district’s administration building on Tiger Boulevard, where community members held signs against mask mandates and chanted “my child, my choice” throughout the public comment portion of the special meeting.
A Pulaski County circuit judge on Aug. 6 ruled that a state law banning mask mandates for public institutions — including school districts, universities, cities and counties — was unconstitutional, and issued a preliminary injunction against it. The law isn’t in effect at the moment, prompting mask decisions by school districts throughout the state.
Eight of the 15 school districts in Benton and Washington counties — including Bentonville, Fayetteville, Springdale and Rogers — have adopted some form of mask mandate to begin this school year.
Bentonville intends to reevaluate its mask policy at its next monthly board meeting, set for Sept. 21.
The Bentonville district on Thursday reported 113 active cases of covid-19 among its 18,779 students, with 194 students in quarantine. The district also reported 13 active cases among its 2,249 employees, with four employees in quarantine.
Arkansas’ count of coronavirus cases rose Thursday by 3,549, the fourth-highest, one-day increase since the start of the pandemic, while the number of people hospi- talized with covid-19 rose by 38, to 1,410. The state’s death toll from the virus, as tracked by the Department of Health, rose by 16, to 6,581.