State officials usurped the authority of the Butler Area School Board and the state legislature by requiring the board to sign an attestation form to provide in-person instruction, according to a lawsuit filed Monday by the school district.

The form makes public school officials commit to safety measures to ensure the safety and well-being of students and educators.

District solicitor Tom King filed the complaint in Commonwealth Court against Gov. Tom Wolf, Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine and acting Secretary of Education Noe Ortega on behalf of the district, the school board and nine district parents.

The board voted to sign the form under protest at an emergency meeting Nov. 30.

Public schools in counties like Butler that were in the substantial transmission level for COVID-19 for at least two consecutive weeks were required to sign the form.

Districts had to submit attestation forms stating they have either transitioned to fully remote learning or are complying with safety orders if they are conducting any in-person instruction while their counties are in the substantial range.

Schools that did not sign an attestation form were required to provide only fully remote learning and suspend all extracurricular activities while their counties remain in the substantial transmission level.

The complaint argues that the Pennsylvania School Code empowers school boards to carry out provisions of the code and administer the state's public school system, but the attestation requirement usurped those powers.

The attestation order and COVID-19 mitigation orders issued by Wolf and Levine usurp the power of the legislature because they suspend, modify and are contrary to existing state law, according to the complaint. Under the separation-of-powers in the state constitution, the legislative branch of government creates laws, and the governor is bound to execute them, not to create or interpret them.

The constitution authorizes the legislature to suspend laws, and to provide and maintain the public education system, according to the complaint.

The attestation and mitigation orders call for districts to close schools with a certain number of COVID-19 cases, but the school code authorizes the Legislature and school boards to close schools, according to the complaint.

No language in the school code supports the authorization given to the secretary of education by the secretary of health to prepare and enforce the attestation order, as spelled out in the secretary of education's attestation email, according to the complaint

The complaint also argues that executive orders such as the attestation requirement cannot be contrary to any constitutional or statutory provision.

The relief sought by the complaint is for the court to set aside the attestation requirement and the mitigation orders from Wolf and Levine. The lawsuit requests a permanent injunction barring the governor and secretaries of health and education from preventing schools from providing in-person instruction, extracurricular activities and interscholastic athletics.