A parent with a child in the Cloverleaf Local School District in Medina County has filed a lawsuit against the school district board members over the district’s mask mandate.
The lawsuit, filed earlier this month, follows a decision by the board to implement the restriction after allowing masks to be optional at the beginning of the school year.
“Our collective optimism for the beginning of this school year has been dimmed by the sheer number of student COVID cases and quarantines. As of yesterday, 11 days into the school year, we had 320 student quarantines, which is 93% of our total from all of last year. Our 50 student COVID cases represent 109% of the total cases we had all last year,” the district detailed while enacting the requirement.
After enactment of the mandate, the district claimed that cases and quarantined students were declining.
“Following the Board’s decision to require face masks for students and staff beginning Sept. 3, our quarantine numbers have started to decline. That’s good news that is being felt in our school buildings — and I’m sure in the homes of our Cloverleaf families,” the district’s superintendent said in a letter.
In the filed lawsuit, the parent details an expert “has testified as to the futility and danger caused by an individual wearing a mask in order to avoid transmitting or becoming infected with COVID-19.”
If successful, the lawsuit would stop the implementation of the mandate because it “causes immediate and irreparable harm to students, staff and community” due to a “measurable drop” in oxygen levels.
Governor Mike DeWine (R) has not directed a statewide mandate for schools, but he announced that his administration will make a “direct appeal” to local school districts, encouraging them to implement mask mandates.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for The Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
