Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt sent letters last week to more than 30 school districts and health agencies across the state declaring they must end their mask mandates immediately.
This announcement was met by parent protests Friday in the predominantly white, rural district. Parents held signs reading “Unmask,” “FBIs Most Wanted Rockwood Parent,” and “Rockwood is Not Above the Law.”
Schmitt said those mandates, which have been active in nearly every school across the state since the return to in-person schooling, were illegal.
A Cole County, MO court ruled last month local governments and local public institutions within the state cannot mandate masking within their bounds. However, that ruling has been hotly contested by school districts and municipal governments.
In a Dec. 8 follow-up statement Schmitt’s office also requested “concerned parents” submit “photo and video evidence” of districts continuing to mandate masking for their students.
“Parents are encouraged to email that address with their concerns, photos, videos, documents, and other supporting information, and a representative from the Attorney General’s Office will review those concerns and documentation and investigate further wherever possible,” Schmitt wrote. “Parents are sick and tired of the stonewalling from their school districts, and so am I.”
In St. Louis County, rates of newly-diagnosed COVID-19 infections rose among youth in particular between Nov. 23 and Dec. 6. Among 15-to-19 year olds, the rate of infection nearly doubled within that two-week period, according to St. Louis County Department of Health data, which was noted as indicative of “unchecked spread.”
Nonetheless, St. Louis County lifted its mask mandate on the 9th. In response, some parent groups in St. Louis County districts are pressuring those districts more strongly to withdraw their in-school mandates too.
In the St. Louis area, most districts have announced to their students and parents that despite Schmitt’s words, they will be continuing to mandate masks. Rockwood School District, one of the 30 named in Schmitt’s initial letter, sent out an announcement stating “We understand that some students, staff and parents have grown tired of wearing masks,” and that the district is spending time re-evaluating the health and safety needs of their student community in order to develop a plan around masking.
“In the meantime, we ask our staff and families for patience and support as we thoughtfully consider updates to our safety measures that impact thousands of students and staff,” they wrote. A Rockwood spokesperson told KSDK News Friday they intended to send students home for refusing to mask.
This announcement was met by parent protests Friday in the predominantly white, rural district. Parents held signs reading “Unmask,” “FBIs Most Wanted Rockwood Parent,” and “Rockwood is Not Above the Law.” Recent Rockwood school board meetings have been full of parents and students refusing to wear masks, saying the masks impede learning and demanding the school board repeal their mask mandate. The Eureka Police were called to Rockwood’s administrative building over the protests.
Other districts took similar actions and received far less aggressive pushback.
In Normandy, for example, the school community has been “responsive and supportive of” masking and quarantining, according to spokesperson Sharifah Simms-Williams. The district is speaking with legal counsel and does not plan to change anything about their COVID protocol before the end of the year, Simms-Williams said.
St. Louis Public Schools Superintendent Kelvin Adams sent a letter to parents Thursday evening.
“While our attorneys are still looking over both the letter and the case law, their initial interpretation is that Saint Louis Public Schools (SLPS), does, in fact, have the authority to require masks, and we will continue to do so because we know that every layer of prevention works in keeping our students and staff safe,” Adams wrote.
He added there hasn’t been much complaint from staff or students in the district regarding masks, “largely, we believe, because they see that masks work.” Additionally, SLPS is located in the city of St. Louis, whose mask mandate is, as of Monday, still in effect.
As of Dec. 9, Parkway School District,a county district of similar size to Rockwood,wasn’t planning on removing its mask mandate or quarantine process. In fact, Parkway Communications Director Cathy Kelly said, Parkway has received mostly positive responses from their parent community regarding its COVID-19 mitigation protocols.
“We have heard from parents who are very supportive of the mask mandate. Many of these parents have thanked us and appreciate everything we have done to keep students safe,” Kelly said. “On the other hand, some parents would prefer if masks were optional and we have heard from them.”
Parkway’s board plans to vote on potential changes in response to the public health orders at its Dec. 15 meeting. An email sent out to Parkway’s parent community says that if the proposed changes are approved by the board, masks in school will become “recommended but optional” mid-January, and students will no longer have to quarantine as a result of close contact with a COVID-positive individual in school.
A Sept. 2021 Stanford University study concluded wearing a surgical mask over one’s mouth and nose is a highly effective way to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in group settings.
