Catholic schools in the Diocese of Bridgeport will comply “under protest” with an executive order that extends a mandate for masks in schools.

Steven Cheeseman, the superintendent of schools for the diocese, had announced that masks would no longer be required after February 14, when an executive order requiring the masks will lapse. But the state’s board of education said that the governor’s order would remain in force, despite the fact that the governor’s authority to issue such orders will expire. The state legislature is scheduled to vote soon on a proposal to extend the emergency order.

“I must express my sincere concerns with the position taken by the legislators to extend an executive order that was originally put in place during a time of extraordinary national crisis,” Cheeseman said. He questioned whether the executive order would survive legal scrutiny.