Lee’s Summit school district’s countersuit against Missouri AG seeks to set a precedent

The Lee’s Summit R-VII Faculty District spent $72,824 final yr combating the Missouri Legal professional Normal’s workplace.

It’s the final district standing in an onslaught of civil fits former Legal professional Normal Eric Schmitt introduced towards college districts who enforced masks mandates throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Practically all of the lawsuits have been dismissed, most on the request of the legal professional common. Schmitt — who left workplace final week after he was sworn into the U.S. Senate — tried to drop the go well with towards Lee’s Summit as properly. However the district had already filed a countersuit in search of to ascertain the extent of the legal professional common’s authority over native college districts.

There are not any hearings but on the case calendar as filings ping pong between sides.

Chuck Hatfield, a longtime Jefferson Metropolis legal professional who beforehand served within the legal professional common’s workplace below Democrat Jay Nixon, mentioned the case may set up an necessary precedent.

“The most important problem that Lee’s Summit is getting at is, can we or can we not have the authority to manage our personal district?” he mentioned. “That’s what they’re actually making an attempt to get to, they usually need the courtroom to inform them.”

It’s uncommon, Hatfield mentioned, for the legal professional common to sue or problem orders to a different authorities entity, and the countersuit has the flexibility to information whether or not it might occur extra sooner or later.

“That is about masks mandates,” he mentioned. “Subsequent time it may be transgender athletes.”

A spokeswoman for Legal professional Normal Andrew Bailey, who changed Schmitt, didn’t reply to a request for remark.

The Impartial filed requests below Missouri’s Sunshine Regulation to the 47 districts focused by the Jan. 21 lawsuits asking for invoices of legal professional charges regarding keeping off the litigation.

Of the districts who responded, many had insurance coverage that lined their prices.

Prices for with out insurance coverage or in-house counsel ranged from $126 within the Holden R-III Faculty District to $23,965 within the Particular Faculty District of St. Louis County.

Lee’s Summit’s bills vastly exceeded different districts sued by Schmitt as the one defendant to file a countersuit.

Schmit filed the unique lawsuit towards the Lee’s Summit district a yr in the past, arguing that college districts didn’t have the authority to problem well being mandates.

The lawsuit contends masking as prevention “has no empirical or rational foundation” regardless of research connecting group masks sporting to a discount in COVID-19’s unfold. Schmitt rejects these research, calling them “unreliable” and suggests “masks sporting might even be counterproductive in stopping the unfold of illness.”

A examine of colleges in two Arizona counties concluded that colleges with out masks mandates have been 3.5 occasions extra more likely to have a COVID-19 outbreak. This knowledge was publicized by the Facilities for Illness Prevention and Management in October 2021.

The Legal professional Normal’s workplace argued the district shouldn’t have a masks mandate, however a bunch of Kansas Metropolis-area physicians urged the district and others within the space to implement masking throughout the 2021-2022 college yr.

Lee’s Summit filed a counterclaim towards the legal professional common’s workplace final February. It contends Schmitt’s workplace didn’t have the authority to order the district to finish its masks mandate and solely filed his lawsuit to spice up his marketing campaign for U.S. Senate.

With the unique lawsuit by the legal professional common’s workplace dismissed, solely a counterclaim by the district stays.

“Until checked by the courts, the legal professional common will really feel additional emboldened to intrude into issues which are reserved by Missouri regulation to domestically elected college boards. To that finish, the board is dedicated to defending its authority,” Joseph Hatley, an legal professional representing the district, wrote in a Feb. 18, 2022, submitting within the case.

Each the college district and the legal professional common’s workplace declined touch upon the litigation.

In its countersuit, the district argues a Dec. 7, 2021, letter from the legal professional common ordering an finish to the masks mandate was used as a weapon of intimidation towards lecturers and directors by some dad and mom who disagreed with the coverage. In the meantime, Schmitt posted his efforts on social media and inspired dad and mom to report districts that didn’t comply with his order.

The counterclaim additionally factors to actions by Missouri Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick, who made college districts certify their compliance with Schmitt’s demand earlier than finishing bond points.

The legal professional common’s workplace believes Lee’s Summit is just not eligible for injunctive aid because the district has suspended its masks mandate and was not planning on refinancing with the assistance of the treasurer’s workplace.

“Hypothesis that sometime the district would possibly search to problem bonds, that one other international pandemic may be occurring on the identical time, that the district may need in place insurance policies that whoever is then legal professional common would possibly consider violate state regulation, that whoever is then legal professional common would possibly ship one other cease-and-desist letter to the district, and that whoever is then state treasurer would possibly require the district to certify compliance with the letter as a situation for issuing bonds is plainly inadequate to ascertain that the district is in ‘quick hazard’ of damage,” wrote James Atkins, common counsel within the legal professional common’s workplace.

Jackson County Circuit Courtroom Choose Marco Roldan has not granted nor denied both request for abstract judgment.

A trial date is just not scheduled. Roldan’s newest motion was denial of the legal professional common’s workplace’s request for data from the district – data the district mentioned have been unrelated to the go well with that pertained to subjects similar to important race concept, college curriculum and “gender identification points.”

Roldan additionally denied the legal professional common’s request to dismiss the countersuit.