BENTONVILLE -- A circuit judge said Thursday that she needs time before deciding whether to temporarily halt the Bentonville School District's mandatory mask policy.
Matthew Bennett, Elizabeth Bennett and Matt Sitton are listed as plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed Aug. 18 against the district. All three have children attending Bentonville schools, according to court documents.
Circuit Judge Xollie Duncan listened Thursday to arguments from attorneys on the request for a preliminary injunction to halt the mask policy.
Just hours after the hearing, the Arkansas Supreme Court announced that it wouldn't allow the state to enforce its ban on mask mandates by schools and other government bodies -- a decision Duncan said she was interested in seeing before she made her ruling the Bentonville case.
Marshall Ney, the Bentonville School District's attorney, said the Supreme Court's decision means Bentonville's policy will remain in place. He said he expects to get a ruling from Duncan next week.
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Gregory Payne, one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs, told the judge that the district didn't have the authority to issue the mandate. He said the district didn't have a directive from Gov. Asa Hutchinson nor the state Department of Health to issue the policy.
Ney said the district doesn't allow short skirts or spaghetti straps, but there's no legal authority prohibiting them.
The district has exemptions in the mask policy, but the plaintiffs didn't seek any for their children, he said.
Payne said the district has no obligations to follow recommendations from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency recommends universal indoor mask-wearing in schools. People younger than 12 remain ineligible for covid-19 vaccines.
Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox ruled Aug. 6 that Act 1002, a state law banning mask mandates for public institutions, appears to be illegal. Fox issued a preliminary injunction against it. Many school districts across the state, including Bentonville, then issued their own policies requiring masks.
Payne said Fox's authority is limited to Pulaski County and his ruling doesn't apply to Benton County. He argued all mask mandates outside Pulaski County are illegal.
Ney said parents have a right to send their children to a school district and a right not to send their children to a district. He said parents have the right to use online education, but don't have the right to dictate what happens in classrooms.
"Parents do not have a constitutional right to control every aspect of their children's education," he said.
He asked the judge to deny the request for the injunction.
Duncan said she wanted time to study the authority involved in the case. She also wanted to wait to see if the state Supreme Court issued its decision on the appeal concerning Fox's ruling.
Duncan said she was concerned about the idea that parents could leave the district.
"It's impossible for some people to leave," she said. "They can't home-school, and they can't afford to send their children somewhere else."
Duncan said all parents don't have the option to stay at home and help their children with online education. She also said she needs to study whether the parents' failure to ask about the exemptions will affect the case.
The lawsuit named Superintendent Debbie Jones and all seven School Board members as defendants.
The School Board approved mask mandates for both staff member and students 3 and older on Aug. 11 by a 5-2 vote. They must wear masks indoors and while riding in school vehicles, with some exceptions. The board agreed to reevaluate the policy monthly.
The board decided at its meeting last week -- again, by a 5-2 vote -- to continue requiring masks for at least another month, with the stipulation Jones may relax the rules if reports of new, known covid-19 infections over a 14-day period drop below 30 per 10,000 district residents. The rate is currently at 40 in the district, according to the district's website.
The district on Thursday reported 24 active cases among its students and staff members, representing about 0.1% of the 20,879 students and employees combined. A total of 109 students and staff members were in quarantine Thursday.
Public debate over mask mandates in schools has been widespread this year and led to legal battles in several states, including Arkansas.
Lonoke County Circuit Judge Barbara Elmore recently declined to issue a temporary restraining order to stop the Cabot School District's 30-day mask policy, which requires all staff members and students in kindergarten through 12th grade to wear face coverings while at school.