Missouri AG Schmitt drops mask lawsuits against most schools as cases fall, mandates end
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt is dismissing dozens of lawsuits against student mask mandates after school districts lifted requirements as COVID-19 cases plummeted.
His office said Friday it was dropping court challenges against all but seven districts where mandatory masking remains in place or where the lawsuits have reached a more advanced stage.
The dismissals are an abrupt change in posture for Schmitt. Earlier this week, his office asked a Jackson County judge not to dismiss a lawsuit challenging Lee’s Summit schools’ now-expired mask mandate after his office missed a deadline for responding to a motion by the district. An affidavit cited “excusable neglect” as the cause for the missed deadline. “Excusable neglect” is a legal term referring for having a justifiable reason.
Schmitt, a Republican running for U.S. Senate, has framed the lawsuits as a victory, even though many didn’t result in court decisions against districts. His office said 42 districts had ended mask directives.
Some districts no doubt felt pressure to change course in part because of pressure brought by Schmitt. But the end of mandates has also coincided with a massive decline in the number of COVID-19 cases as the surge caused by the omicron variant subsided. Many of the lawsuits were filed in January as case numbers — and hospitalizations — were peaking.
Schmitt spokesman Chris Nuelle said in a statement that the office was evaluating its legal options as more districts drop directives.
“Because of that successful litigation and the fact that many school districts have dropped their mask mandates, we are dismissing lawsuits in districts where masking is no longer required, however, make no mistake, the Attorney General’s Office stands ready, willing, and able to file more lawsuits if school districts cruelly decide to again force masking of children in school all day,” Nuelle said.
Of the suits, a dozen were filed against Kansas City area school districts, including: Kansas City Public Schools, North Kansas City, Park Hill, Lee’s Summit, Holden, Liberty, Raytown, Center, Warrensburg, Hickman Mills, Grandview and Independence.
Schmitt is still pursuing lawsuits against one Kansas City area district, Center, as well as University City, Clayton, Maplewood-Richmond Heights, and Normandy – all districts where masks remain required. Suits are also proceeding against Columbia and St. Charles. In the Columbia case, a trial has been set for October.
Schmitt filed the actions following a November court ruling that stripped local health authorities of their powers to issue disease mitigation measures. Schmitt used the ruling as a basis for calling school districts’ pandemic regulations illegal.
But several Kansas City area districts defended their protocols, arguing that Schmitt did not have the authority to force them to drop the mandates because the rules were created by locally elected officials.
Joseph Hatley, attorney representing the Lee’s Summit school district, previously wrote a scathing letter to Schmitt, arguing that he lacked the authority to be taking such legal action.
Hatley wrote that the Lee’s Summit school board shares the attorney general’s “stated objective of supporting parental involvement in their children’s education — it just recognizes its responsibility to represent a wider range of voices than those you are publicizing.”
Kansas City area school districts maintained or reinstated mask requirements during record COVID-19 case peaks this winter. But districts have dropped their directives over the past couple of months, as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have fallen.
Last month, officials in Kansas City allowed the health order mandating masks in schools within city limits to expire. Kansas City Public Schools, one of the last holdouts to maintain a universal mask requirement, dropped its mandate last week.
This story was originally published March 18, 2022 at 5:48 PM.
