YOUNGSTOWN - A case filed by a group of parents opposing mask mandates in the Boardman Local School District is now a federal case.

The Boardman Board of education has filed a notice of removal, transferring the complaint filed by the Boardman Ohio Parents Organization from Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to U.S. District Court.

The move comes nearly three weeks after Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony Donofrio denied the parent’s efforts to obtain the restraining order.

The parents include Richard Wyant, Nick Coiro, Angela Nespeca, Joy Horton, Brandon Berg, Joel McKendry, Dwight Kent McMurray, Christine Gardner, Michael Black, and James Hazenstab, III.

The school board says that since the parents allege that the school board’s order requiring face coverings to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is in violation of federal law, it should properly be heard before a federal judge.

In denying the restraining order in the county court, Judge Donofrio ruled that the parents couldn’t show they would suffer irreparable injury if the mask mandate remained in effect and that the mandate’s removal could harm others.

Boardman Schools have a written policy titled "Protective Facial Coverings During Pandemic/Epidemic Events" which addresses the requirement of wearing face masks "during times of elevated communicable disease community spread."

This policy exempts the wearing of face coverings in 14 different instances including when necessary for medical or developmental reasons.

EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story erroneously stated that it was the parents who filed the notice of removal.