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Friday's votes by the Warren County School District to undo its efforts to circumvent state masking requirements are a "step in the right direction but not… the end of the road."
That's according to the attorney, Ken Behrend, who brought the federal lawsuit against the district and school board earlier this week.
"First of all, my clients are happy to see the school board has decided to take the right choice," Ken Behrend told the Times Observer on Friday. "(It) was a good vote this morning."
But, he cautioned, it does not make the lawsuit disappear.
"It may eliminate the need for the injunction hearing," he explained. That hearing is currently schedule for next week and he said any change to that hearing is up to the federal judge hearing the case.
"The best way to describe it, the lawsuit is based upon violation of fundamental due process rights," Behrend said. "That violation does not go away because the school board does now the right thing" as a result of the threat of litigation.
He said there "will need to be some kind of consent decree" so that the "parents have a guarantee the school board won't change its mind."
He called the "ideal situation" is one where "both sides reach agreement…. That could end the case officially."
That makes Friday's vote a "step in the right direction" but not "the end of the road."
While nine parents signed on to the suit, there's been discussion that a group of around 500 supported the initiative. Behrend said lawyers don't like to deal in hearsay but said he has heard that number "bandied around."
He did say that there is a "much larger group" than just the nine parents who signed on to the suit.