COLUMBIA, MO (KMIZ)

The Missouri Attorney General’s Office has filed another lawsuit against Columbia Public Schools and, for the first time, the Jefferson City School District over the districts’ renewed temporary mask mandates.

The CPS then hit back, saying it would “aggressively” fight the action.

According to court documents, AG Eric Schmitt says school districts do not have the authority to impose public health orders on their students.

The Columbia Board of Education approved a temporary mask mandate through Feb. 4 at its Thursday morning meeting. Superintendent Brian Yearwood can extend the order through Feb. 18 if needed. JC Schools temporarily renewed its mask mandate last week, requiring them where social distancing is not possible. The district had a mandate in place to start the fall semester, but abandoned it when the delta surge subsided.

The Missouri attorney general‘s office on Friday filed lawsuits against 36 districts in the state, including Waynesville in Pulaski County.

Columbia Public Schools called the lawsuit a waste of tax money in a statement Friday afternoon.

“Providing a safe learning environment for all of our scholars and staff and keeping our schools safe and open are our top priorities,” the district said. “Public school districts have the inherent ability under Missouri state law to implement mitigation strategies to keep schools safe and open during a global pandemic. Columbia Public Schools is listening also Missouri State and guidance provided by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services in combination with other local, state, and federal health and of medicine.

“Filing lawsuits against many public school districts for making decisions in the interest of keeping students safe and in school continues to waste taxpayer dollars and resources, which are better spent investing in our students. Columbia Public Schools intends to aggressively defend its decision to do everything possible to keep its scholars and staff safe and its schools open.”

Yearwood renewed the CPS mask mandate when students returned to class last week, citing a sharp rise in cases among students and staff of the highly contagious variant of the omicron coronavirus. The district said the virus was sickening students and depleting staff, and the warrant was needed to keep doors open.

Between the 36 lawsuits, 76 parents registered as plaintiffs. Amanda Hamlin is one of the parents named in the Columbia Public Schools lawsuit. In an interview with ABC 17, Hamlin said she signed the lawsuit because she didn’t feel like the school district was listening to her family’s concerns.

Hamlin’s children have special needs; one is autistic with sensory issues that prevent him from wearing a mask, the other is legally blind and cannot see when his glasses fog up from wearing a mask.

“There are a lot of children in this neighborhood who need special consideration and I don’t feel like they are given the ones I feel like they are forgotten and there are parents like me, there aren’t many of us, but we’re not going to stop until we’re heard,” Hamlin said.

JC Schools cited similar issues in renewing its temporary mandate, which also came into effect last week.

However, CPS students are absent from classes on Friday, Monday and Tuesday and JC schools were absent on Friday due to the strain caused by the virus. The CPS had 217 students positive for coronavirus Friday morning and 69 members of staff. Substitute fill rate for this week is around 56%. Teachers have had to cover lessons for their colleagues due to the endemic disease, district leaders say.

JC Schools reported 72 cases of active students and 28 active staff cases as of Thursday.

Schmitt’s lawsuit against CPS names three parents as plaintiffs, saying they want to protect their children from the mask mandate. No parent is named as a plaintiff in the JC Schools case.

Schmitt also sued the CPS over its mask mandate last year, and the Columbia Board of Education ended that mandate in December, ahead of the omicron push that pushed new cases and hospitalizations to record highs. throughout the state. This lawsuit was later dropped.

Schmitt makes several arguments against mask mandates in the CPS lawsuit, including that COVID-19 does not pose a serious threat to children and that natural immunity against infection is better protection against the coronavirus than vaccination. The lawsuits also claim that the masks have not been shown to stop the transmission of the coronavirus and that they can be harmful to children.

Missouri House Minotory Chief Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, said in a statement that Schmitt’s previous round of lawsuits bullied schools into dropping their previous mask mandates, which they had to reinstate when omicron has taken new causes to new heights.

“Predictably enough, coronavirus infections quickly spread like wildfire among teachers and students, prompting districts to reinstate masks and forcing many schools to close,” Quade said. “These lawsuits are beyond frivolous and more like campaign literature while citing little legal authority for his position, which is unsurprising since there is none.

“Eric Schmitt’s incredible abuse of power is sickening countless Missouri children and preventing schools from keeping their doors open. He corrupts his high office for political purposes and is unworthy of the authority the Missourians have entrusted to him.

Schmitt is a candidate in the Republican Senate primary to replace U.S. Senator Roy Blunt.

Check back for updates on this developing story.