Attorneys for the new Douglas County Health Department told a federal judge this week that the county is “highly likely” to pull a contested, and now blocked, public health order that allowed students and staff to opt out of a school mask requirement.

But the filing makes reference to the four conservatives who won election to the district’s school board this week, all of whom oppose the masking requirements but won’t be seated for another month.

Public health officials in the county have had “preliminary discussions” about pulling the order, which was instituted in early October as a way for residents to circumvent the Douglas County School District’s masking requirement for students and staff. County leaders’ opposition to masking in August and September had prompted the county’s departure from Tri-County Health Department, the creation of a new agency and health board, and that body’s swift movement to hollow out the district’s mask policy.

But the district subsequently sued the health department and board, alleging its order violated the civil rights of medically at-risk students, as well as those children who needed in-person learning to best succeed in school. A federal judge last week issued a temporary injunction blocking the health order and keeping the district’s policy universal.

Now, the county appears set to get rid of the order entirely.

The health department and board “are keenly aware of the gravity of a federal court order finding their (public health order, or PHO) problematic and have had preliminary discussions about withdrawing the PHO and, in consultation with medical experts and the School District, considering a new PHO in the future,” attorneys for the county wrote in a filing this week seeking a status conference with the court and district.

Any such new order may come after the new school board members are seated.

A spokeswoman for the county said in an email she was just hearing about the court filings. She did not provide further comment by press time. A spokeswoman for the school district said she would check with its legal team before commenting. She also did not provide a response.

The order could only be rescinded at the Board of Health’s next public meeting, which is slated for Nov. 10. A hearing is scheduled in the case on Nov. 8, the attorneys wrote, and they asked the judge to push that back until after the public health meeting.

The attorneys added that the order is “highly likely” to be pulled. In its response, the district didn’t oppose pushing hearings back. But it did ask the county to consent to extending the judge’s injunction and keep the order blocked.

“While (the health department and board) have indicated in their motion that the Douglas County Board of Health may withdraw the public health order at issue in this case,” the district’s attorneys wrote in a filing Thursday, “the health order has not been withdrawn as of this filing and therefore the need to obtain more permanent injunctive relief remains.”

Though the court’s ruling last week blocking the order appears to be one impetus for the county’s change of heart, its latest filing came one day after four conservatives won election to the county’s school board. The body had been strongly in favor of masking, to the point of instituting its own order and then suing the county. The four newly elected members were all opposed to the mask order and the lawsuit. On a board of seven, their sweeping win is enough to swing the district away from its current policies.

In its filing, the county’s attorneys noted the election results and said the new members would likely be seated Dec. 6.