When you’re fighting a war, the landscape changes from skirmish to skirmish, and if success is the goal, weapons must be chosen and deployed locally to address local concerns.
That’s why Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s nearly identical lawsuits that target school districts across the state, each of which is waging war against the pandemic in the best ways they can, is so wrongheaded – and poisonous.
The districts’ motives are pure and straightforward. They desperately want to keep schools open, for the welfare of their students. Why in the world would anyone imagine otherwise?
But what about Schmitt’s motives? You know, the guy who’s running in ruby red Missouri as a Republican for U.S. Senate and wants your attention, however he can get it.
He launched 45 lawsuits (and counting) as of Monday, two of them against the Dunklin R-5 and Fox C-6 school districts in Jefferson County.
In the suits, Schmitt declares that school boards do not have the power to issue mask mandates within their districts, claiming that authority instead for the Missouri Legislature.
Lawyers and representatives on the side of the schools (including former Northwest R-1 Superintendent Paul Ziegler, who now heads a nonprofit that represents 60 area school districts) say
otherwise, citing existing state statutes – and common sense.
They say school boards know their communities’ circumstances – local COVID transmission rates, case numbers inside their schools and the number of beds available in nearby hospitals – among other considerations.
Schmitt doesn’t know these things, and even if he did the research, district by district, it’s hard to discern that he cares.
To make it worse, he’s using taxpayer resources for his posturing. First, from the state itself, and second, from the school districts that are now forced to fight him in court.
That’s your money and mine he’s spending, and those most affected will be your kids and mine.
My five school-age grandchildren all attend classes in school districts Schmitt is suing.
I think of Hawthorn Elementary School in the Park Hill School District, north of Kansas City, as Ground Zero.
Grandkids Clark (third grade) and Paige (second grade), who have a 5-month-old baby sister at home, attend Hawthorn and went to school every day last week.
But what a struggle.
On Jan. 21, the same day Schmitt filed suit against the Park Hill School District, parents received an alarming email from the district. No need to read between the lines to catch the tone of desperation.
Here’s an excerpt:
“Today, we had more than 200 of our staff members out with illness, and we were only able to cover 54 percent of those with substitutes. This is more than we have ever seen in the history of the Park Hill School District.
“Over the last weeks, as these numbers began to spike, our staff has taken extraordinary measures to keep students in school, learning.
“We’ve had custodians answering phones and everyone with the proper certification has been covering classrooms, from our specials teachers to our instructional coaches to our building and district administrators. This means that we haven’t been able to provide some key services.
“As illness numbers continue to rise, we are reaching a breaking point. If we do not have enough staff to properly supervise our students, we cannot have school.”
The memo goes on to ask parents to make plans now, in case district schools are forced to close.
Park Hill started school after the holidays with no mask mandate, but instituted one, on an emergency basis, when
COVID, influenza and other viruses assaulted students and staff, my daughter-in-law Sara reports.
With so many children out sick, elementary school classes have been rolled together, moving from room to room, and in Paige’s case, taught for part of the day Jan. 20 by a central office administrator.
Everybody wants kids to stay in school, and my daughter-in-law is fervent about it.
Paige’s kindergarten and first-grade years were deeply impacted by the pandemic, and, as a result, so was she.
She’s an insightful and obviously intelligent child, but her reading skills were subpar when she entered second grade. Thankfully, her teacher reported a month or so ago that Paige had caught up, congratulating the effort that took place at home.
“It took 18 months,” Paige’s mom said. “Our kids need to be in the classroom, and wearing masks helps that to happen.”
Schmitt’s lawsuits claim that masks are ineffective, but the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cite numerous studies and anecdotes that show masks help to fight the virus.
One of those anecdotes comes from Springfield, Mo., where a beauty salon experienced no outbreak of COVID cases after two infected stylists, both masked, served 139 masked clients over eight days.
Maybe you think Schmitt is right in his belief about masks, and maybe you don’t want your kids to wear them. Even so, you should decry Schmitt’s overreach.
You can take your concerns to your local school board – and in Jefferson County, many of you have. School boards have listened, too, many enacting policies that call for masks only when things get really bad, when the only other option is to send kids back home.
Parents want kids in school; educators want kids in school; in their heart of hearts, even the kids want to be in school.
What does Eric Schmitt want?
Whatever, he should “cease and desist” his efforts to control local decisions from a state office.
