Mask Mandates and the Limits of School Board Removal

Written by Katelin Carter

Can school board members be kicked out of office for keeping mask mandates in place after public health orders expired? According to the Commonwealth Court, not unless they failed to do their job entirely.

In Prozan v. Millcreek Township School District Board of Directors, constituents from two Erie County school districts, Millcreek and North East, sought to remove board members under Section 318 of the Pennsylvania School Code. Their argument? That the boards overstepped their authority by continuing to require masks for students and staff after statewide and local mandates had been lifted.

But the Court wasn’t persuaded. While the appellants claimed these policies violated parental rights and lacked legal support, the Court held that even assuming the mandates were overreaching, they didn’t amount to nonfeasance, the only valid basis for removal under Section 318. Nonfeasance means a failure to act when legally required. What the boards did, at worst, was malfeasance, taking action that might have exceeded their authority, which isn’t enough to remove a school director under Pennsylvania law.

The Court emphasized that local boards have broad discretion to implement health and safety policies, especially in the context of a global pandemic. The fact that their decisions were unpopular or controversial didn’t make them illegal. Plus, families who objected to masking had virtual options available. The Court also rejected the argument that masking qualifies as “medical treatment” or triggers religious exemption rights.

Even the procedural missteps weren’t enough to change the outcome. Although the Millcreek petition was improperly verified and the North East petition had to be amended, the Court found both were properly dismissed on legal grounds. And in a nod to fairness, it declined to award litigation costs to the school boards, noting the public nature of the claims and the unsettled legal questions surrounding COVID-era governance.

The bottom line: School boards can’t be removed for making tough or unpopular policy choices, only for failing to act when the law requires it. When it comes to removal under the School Code, policy disagreements and procedural missteps just don’t make the cut.