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A group of parents have sued Chippewa Valley Schools over its mask mandate for students.
The legal action was filed Tuesday in Macomb County Circuit Court by parents who are part of the Macomb County chapter of Moms for Liberty.
The legal action seeks an immediate injunction to halt the mask mandate, which was initiated Jan. 12 and is scheduled to end next Friday. It also seeks a permanent ruling on the matter as parents are concerned it will be extended or a mandate could be reissued in the future.
Spokeswoman Monica Radyko said the group supports allowing parents the option of whether their child or children should wear masks, which are required for students in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19.
“A parent is going do their research and do what’s best for their child,” Radyko said. “It’s not the district’s job to decide what’s best for their child.”
The lawsuit alleges Superintendent Ron Roberts doesn’t have the authority to implement the mask mandate. The Board of Education did not vote on it, and board members did not object to it when it was announced Jan. 10.
Moms for Liberty attorney James Thomas, who practices out of Grand Rapids, said Roberts’ unilateral decision violates the separation of powers doctrine in the Michigan constitution.
“Do we have a representative government? How does one person call all the shots?” Thomas said. “It’s our freedom and I don’t want anybody stomping on it.”
School district attorney Robert Schindler disagrees.
“We believe the superintendent was well within his authority to act,” he said.
The district says in a statement it initiated the mandate “for all students and staff to help minimize staff shortages, keep our students healthy, and maintain in-person learning.”
It was implemented after 80 cases, including eight bus drivers, were reported in the district among students and staff. “We remain deeply concerned about our ability to offer in-person learning if we experience critical staff shortages,” officials said in a letter to parents.
While the parents and their attorney are concerned about the mandate being extended, Schindler said Friday there is no plan to maintain it past next Friday.
“At this time, I’m not of any intent to extend it beyond that date,” he said.
Julie Haase, a parent of two children at CVS and member of Macomb County Safe Schools, said she supports the mandate to reduce classroom transmission and staff shortages.
“With still the high transmission rates and hospitalizations of COVID-19 in our county, it is beyond irresponsible for these conspiracy drive groups to sue school districts like Chippewa Valley, who have the courage to do the right thing in protecting kids, families, staff and our community as a whole,” she said in a written statement. “If we truly value in-person learning and want to prevent learning loss, we should be doing everything in our power to keep teachers and students healthy and in the classroom. Frivolous and baseless legal stunts such as this lawsuit only district from the fact that masks protect our kids, teachers and school staff and contribute to keeping them in the classroom.”
Thomas said if Chippewa Valley does not extend the mandate past Friday, the group will continue to pursue a favorable ruling to prevent any future mandate.
The case has been assigned to circuit Judge Julie Gatti.
The district had a mask mandate last year but also provided virtual instruction. Optional masking was put in place this school year until Jan. 10 when masks again became mandatory due to the omicron variant.
Radycko said she pulled her first-grade son out of school because of his difficulties in wearing a mask.
“He gets headaches, has difficulty breathing and some anxiety,” she said.
She wasn’t able to seek a medical waiver from the district because his doctor wasn’t available.
A former teacher, Radycko has been home-schooling her son during the mandate.
Mask mandates are also in effect in Warren Consolidated Schools, Clintondale Community Schools, Eastpointe Community Schools, Center Line Public Schools, Van Dyke Public Schools, Fitzgerald Public Schools, schools operated by the Macomb Intermediate School District, Mount Clemens Community Schools, South Lake Schools and Lakeview Public Schools. Mandates in Anchor Bay School District and Roseville Community Schools expired Friday, and New Haven Community Schools’ mandate ended Tuesday.
In Utica Community Schools, masks are optional except in buildings where positive COVID-19 cases hit 10% or more and they become mandated. Higher rates can result in the building going into remote learning, officials said.
Masks are optional in L’Anse Creuse Public Schools, Romeo Community Schools, Armada Area Schools, Richmond Community Schools, Fraser Public Schools, Warren Woods Public Schools and Lake Shore Public Schools.
Moms for Liberty has chapters in nine Michigan counties and dozens of other chapters around the nation.
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