Cobb school parents fighting mask mandate to drop lawsuit

The attorney for Cobb school parents fighting the Cobb County School District’s mask mandate said Wednesday they’re dropping their lawsuit.

Rob Madayag, Cobb school board candidate — *Rob Madayag*

Rod Madayag told East Cobb News he’s filed a notice to dismiss a federal lawsuit because “the school district indicated that it was going to be mask optional next year, which is all our clients wanted in the first place.”

The dismissal notice comes three weeks after a federal judge denied the suing parents their request for a temporary restraining order to end the mandate during the Cobb school district academic year that concluded Wednesday.

Two weeks ago, the district said it was relaxing its mask mandate for the “fully vaccinated” and announced that “we fully expect to start the 2021-2022 school year with masks as optional.”

Five parents filed a lawsuit in April in Cobb Superior Court, but it was remanded to federal court (you can read that notice and the suit by clicking here).

In their suit, the parents claimed the Cobb school district’s mask mandate—which applied to students, teachers and other staff—has effectively created two “separate, but unequal” learning environments, one in-person, and one virtual.

In addition, the plaintiffs alleged that the district’s contract tracing procedures violate students’ right to privacy under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, as well as the equal protection provisions of the 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

They also claimed CDC guidance for students wasn’t based on scientific data showing mask-wearing is safe for them because there isn’t any.

“People are surprised to learn that there are zero studies cited or conducted by the CDC that show that it is safe for a child to wear a mask for 8 hours a day, every day,” Madayag said.

“It is a shame that people were so flippant about putting kids in masks for 8 hours without making sure it was safe. What kind of message does that send to our kids?”

Some of the plaintiffs alleged in their lawsuit that their children have suffered from constricted breathing, including a Walton High School student with ADHD.

Madayag said he will be working with parents to press for state legislation to prohibit policies along those lines in the future.

Gov. Brian Kemp also is expected to sign an executive order prohibiting local school districts from imposing mask mandates when the 2021-22 school year begins. The order would not prohibit staff and students from wearing masks if they choose.

A Cobb school district spokeswoman told East Cobb News there are no further updates for now on a final decision about masks for the next school year, which begins Aug. 2.

As for the lawsuit, she said in a statement that “when this lawsuit began, we said we looked forward to the facts of this case being argued in court, not social or traditional media. As the case being dropped shows, our comments from one year ago are as true as they are today.”