YOUNGSTOWN — The Boardman Local School District is asking the federal courts to allow it to move a lawsuit filed by a parents group regarding the school district’s mask mandate from Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to the U.S. district courts.

A filing Tuesday in federal court stated that the school system was giving “notice of removal” of the suit filed by the Boardman Ohio Parents Organization to the U.S. Court for the Northern District of Ohio.

The filing states the grounds for moving the suit are that the lawsuit alleges the school district violated federal law through its mandate that students wear a mask in the fight against COVID-19.

The filing states that the federal courts have jurisdiction over the matter.

Judge Anthony Donofrio of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on Oct. 27 denied the parent group’s request for a temporary restraining order that would temporarily stop the mask mandate while the issue is fully argued in court.

The judge set a Jan. 27 hearing to hear evidence.

“On its face, the reasons for the Boardman Local Schools’ policy appears to have a rational basis, the policy is not unreasonable, and there appears to be a reasonable basis between the rule and the furtherance of a valid educational purpose, to wit, continued in-person classroom teaching,” Donofrio’s ruling stated.

The ruling added that the parents group has “not shown a strong or substantial likelihood of success on the merits in establishing that the (school district mask policy) violates the Fifth or 14th amendments to the Constitution” or the Ohio Constitution.

“Local school district policies requiring students to wear face masks to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus have been upheld in (federal) District Courts of the Northern District of Ohio and Northern District of New York,” the ruling continued.