School district board members in Washington state who preemptively repealed the district’s mask mandate in February 2022, conflicting with the governor’s masking requirement, can be be put on the ballot for a recall election because their “special meeting” violated the Open Public Meetings Act, the state Supreme Court ruled April 27.

Three of five Richland School District boardmembers voted and repealed the schools’ mask mandate during a special meeting in February 2022 while Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s COVID-19 mask mandate remained binding throughout the state and still required face coverings in most indoor settings, including public schools, according to the high court’s en banc opinion penned by Justice Sheryl Gordon McCloud.