A federal appeals court has ruled that a group of Iowa parents of children with disabilities lack the legal standing to sue the state over a law prohibiting schools from imposing mask mandates.

ARC of Iowa, a nonprofit that helps individuals with intellectual disabilities, and the parents of several Iowa children with disabilities, had sued the state over a law that prevents schools from imposing mask mandates on students and staff to combat the spread of COVID-19.

On Tuesday, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the state by stating the plaintiffs lacked the legal standing to bring such a lawsuit.

The legal battle dates back to 2021, when Gov. Kim Reynolds signed legislation prohibiting school districts from imposing mask mandates on staff and students. That brought by ARC of Iowa and the parents of children who have disabilities or chronic health conditions that put them at greater risk of complications if they contract COVID-19.

The parents alleged the state was violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by making it impossible for school districts to make reasonable accommodations for their children through the imposition of mask mandates.

An  preventing the enforcement of the new law, but Reynolds appealed that decision. In 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated the injunction, noting that COVID-19 conditions in classrooms had changed since the beginning of the pandemic.

That ruling focused only on the injunction and not on the broader issue of the law鈥檚 legality. Litigation over that issue continued and in November 2022, , noting that doctors for three students had recommended the students鈥� teachers and classmates be masked.

In that decision, the district court stated that the new law could not be cited as the sole basis for denying a school鈥檚 request for a waiver of the mask-mandate law due to the Americans with Disabilities Act and that law鈥檚 requirement that schools provide 鈥渞easonable accommodation鈥� to meet the needs of students with disabilities.

Reynolds appealed the ruling, arguing that ARC and the parents lacked any legal standing to bring their case, and that they had not satisfied all of the requirements of the ADA.

In its ruling on Tuesday, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals noted that to establish standing, ARC of Iowa and the parents would have to show an injury tied to the conduct of the state and show that such an injury could be redressed by a favorable court ruling.

The appeals court found that ARC of Iowa and the parents could show no such injury and had simply challenged 鈥渞ights鈥� that they believed schools should have with regard to mask mandates.

鈥淭he crux of any dispute 鈥� if there is one 鈥� appears to perhaps be between the state and the school districts,鈥� the appeals court stated. 鈥淪ince the school districts did not appeal and are not a party before us, the precise nature of any ongoing dispute is unclear to us.鈥�

Citing prior decisions in other jurisdictions, the court said 鈥渢he general risks associated with COVID-19, even though COVID-19 remains an ever-present concern in society, are not enough to show imminent and substantial harm for standing.鈥� Those prior decisions found that the increased risk of contracting COVID-19 was 鈥渋nsufficient鈥� to demonstrate an impending future injury, in part because the odds of contracting COVID-19 and suffering complications would be speculative.

Because ARC of Iowa and the parents of the disabled students 鈥渙nly alleged the potential risk of severe illness should they contract COVID-19 at school, the risk of harm is too speculative,鈥� the court said in its decision Tuesday.

It added that even if the added risk of contracting COVID-19 wasn鈥檛 speculative, the plaintiffs still had not alleged that a school had denied their request for a mask mandate as a reasonable accommodation they were seeking under the rights bestowed by the ADA.

Although the appeals court鈥檚 decision doesn鈥檛 address the merits of a ban on mask mandates, Reynolds and Bird characterized the ruling as a victory for parents and for freedom.

鈥淲hile children were the least vulnerable, they paid the highest price for COVID lockdowns and mandates, but Iowa was a different story,鈥� Reynolds said in a written statement. 鈥淚owa was the first state to get students back in the classroom and we prohibited mask mandates in schools, trusting parents to decide what was best for their children. Elected leaders should always trust the people they serve, and I promise I would do it again.鈥�

In a written statement, Bird said, 鈥淔reedom wins in today鈥檚 court ruling to uphold Iowa鈥檚 law banning mask mandates in schools. Parents have the right to choose what healthcare decisions are best for their kids. As attorney general, I support Iowans鈥� rights and freedoms and will continue fighting to defend them.鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: info@iowacapitaldispatch.com. Follow Iowa Capital Dispatch on and .

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds says she will appeal a federal judge鈥檚 ruling that enables school districts to impose universal mask mandates on students and staff.

鈥淎s I鈥檝e said all along, whether a child wears a mask to school is up to the parents, not the government,鈥� Reynolds said in a written statement. 鈥淚 will appeal this ruling so that Iowa families have the right to decide what鈥檚 best for their children.鈥�

In May 2021, Reynolds signed legislation prohibiting school districts from imposing mask mandates on staff and students. That brought by the parents of children who have disabilities or chronic health conditions that put them at greater risk of complications if they contract COVID-19.

The parents alleged the state was violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by making it impossible for school districts to make reasonable accommodations for their children through the imposition of mask mandates.

An preventing the enforcement of the new law, but Reynolds appealed that decision. Earlier this year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated the injunction, noting that COVID-19 conditions in classrooms had changed since the beginning of the pandemic.

That ruling focused only on the injunction and not on the broader issue of the law鈥檚 legality. Litigation over that issue continued and on Tuesday, a federal judge again ruled in favor of the parents, noting that doctors for three students had recommended the students鈥� teachers and classmates be masked.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: info@iowacapitaldispatch.com. Follow Iowa Capital Dispatch on and .

Oregon OSHA investigated after at least eight complaints were submitted following an announcement from then-superintendent Marc Thielman that masks would be optional at schools beginning Jan. 31. The state mask mandate didn鈥檛 end until March 12.

OSHA determined that the district willfully violated the safety of staff by making masks optional a month earlier, when the omicron variant of the coronavirus was still spreading throughout the state.

鈥淎pproximately 157 employees working inside the school buildings during that time period were potentially exposed to the known health hazards of the infectious coronavirus,鈥� according to the citation issued Feb. 22.

According to documents from the investigation, in addition to violating the mask mandate, employees reported that they were not alerted by the district when others tested positive for Covid and many didn鈥檛 know there was a mandatory Covid safety committee in the school where they could report concerns and issues.

Thielman resigned as superintendent Feb. 22 and is now running for the Republican nomination for governor.

In an interview with the Capital Chronicle Tuesday, Thielman said the fine was lower than he expected.聽

鈥淲hen I heard it was only $43(thousand) I was cracking up,鈥� he said.

Despite his own public statements against the statewide mask mandate in schools, Thielman insisted in interviews with OSHA that it was the board鈥檚 decision, not his, to violate the mandate.

A records request submitted to OSHA from the Capital Chronicle turned up handwritten notes detailing a phone call between Linda Patterson, health compliance officer at OSHA, and Thielman from February 7.

In the notes, Patterson writes that Thielman said it was the 鈥減osition of the board鈥� that 鈥渃loth and paper masks鈥� were 鈥渘ot effective.鈥� According to the notes Thielman said, 鈥淭he board did what it needed to do.鈥�

In her typed up closing memo detailing the employee interviews Patterson wrote, 鈥淭he superintendent was clear, this was not a decision he made, it was made by the school board. He stated that he did not vote, did not need to vote, nor would he have voted.鈥�

Thielman told the Capital Chronicle that he supported defying the mask mandate because 鈥渕asks were harming kids and providing no protection. The government knew and did it anyway.鈥澛�

Oregon OSHA would not say if any other fines would be imposed against the district and the Oregon Health Authority does not have any fines against the district pending, according to an agency spokesperson.聽

The OSHA fine comes on top of the Oregon Department of Education鈥檚 decision to temporarily suspend more than $250,000 of federal Covid-relief money available to the school.聽

The school district has until March 31 to appeal the OSHA decision and fine. So far, none has been submitted, according to OSHA. The district鈥檚 interim superintendent, Sean Gallagher, and the district鈥檚 five school board members didn鈥檛 immediately respond Tuesday to telephone or email messages seeking comment.

The investigation

Of the 15 interviews OSHA undertook with Alsea employees, most said they continued to wear masks after Jan. 31, but only about half of other employees did. Interviewees estimated about 80% of students didn鈥檛 mask. The district had 460 students as of the 2020-21 school year.

Several district employees said they were told not to 鈥渕ask shame鈥� and that they had to follow Thielman鈥檚 order, which led to a chilling effect on reporting violations to school leaders.

The Alsea Education Association, the local union for classified staff, the Oregon Education Association and the Linn Benton Lincoln Education Service District wrote to Thielman asking him to reverse course and stay with the mandate to wear masks.聽

The education service district eventually withdrew its teachers and moved all programs online for the Alsea students it served. This included programming for students with disabilities, according to the documents provided by OSHA through the public records request.

The Alsea Education Association wrote to Thielman in an email that 鈥渢his disregard for the law is also a disregard for the health (both physical and mental) and safety of the entire Alsea community as well as a disregard of your duty to protect the staff and students.鈥�

Several parents emailed Thielman after the decision to make masks optional, wondering why the choice was made. One took her children out of the school building and moved them online.聽

鈥淢y children have a right to a safe and free education,鈥� the parent wrote. 鈥淭he board鈥檚 decision is not backed by science and removes the safety from my kid鈥檚 education.鈥�

Fear of losing licenses

OSHA documents show that teachers were worried about losing their licenses, and Thielman falsely told them their credentials would not be on the line due to the masking decision. In an email to staff Jan. 29, Thielman assured them their licenses would not be in jeopardy, and said that the 鈥済overnment鈥� was going after his license.

Richard Sugarman, a teacher in the district鈥檚 farm school program in Corvallis, was the first to reach out to the Oregon Department of Education and the Eugene office of OSHA following the district鈥檚 decision. He authorized OSHA to disclose he was among those filing a complaint.

In an email to the Education Department, Sugarman said he found the mask decision 鈥渃oncerning and intimidating.鈥� He added that Thielman told staff that the Benton County sheriff and undersheriff had told staff they would cite OSHA for trespassing if agency officials walked onto the school campus.聽

Thielman said in Tuesday鈥檚 interview that he and a board member did go to the Benton County Sheriff鈥檚 Office to notify the agency of the district鈥檚 decision regarding masks and to ask for their help.

鈥淲e notified them of our intention to take back local control,鈥� Thielman said. 鈥淲e said we have a constitutional right to care for our children and our government is lying about the efficacy of masks.鈥�

Thielman said they were told that the agency would see that OSHA investigators didn鈥檛 enter school buildings without a warrant.

A message left with an administrator at the sheriff鈥檚 office requesting an interview about Thielman鈥檚 statements wasn鈥檛 returned by Tuesday evening.

Documents show that OSHA investigators were prepared to inspect the Alsea schools with a warrant but ultimately did their investigation in interviews over the phone, without such a visit.

Thielman鈥檚 resignation

Thielman told the Capital Chronicle that the OSHA investigation was 鈥減oliticized鈥� and used as a way to scare other districts away from defying the mask mandate.聽

The enforcement came down on Feb. 22 鈥� the day Thielman tendered his resignation. Thielman said his resignation was unrelated to the citation.

鈥淚t was serendipitous. I needed to leave the job to run full time for governor,鈥� he said.聽

Thielman said he had been talking about resigning with school board members for several weeks.聽

On March 7, the board hired Sean Gallagher to serve as interim superintendent until June 30.

According to the in Brookings, Gallagher resigned as superintendent at the Brookings-Harbor School District for unknown reasons in 2019 and accepted a separation agreement that paid him an estimated $100,000.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Les Zaitz for questions: info@oregoncapitalchronicle.com. Follow Oregon Capital Chronicle on and .

Instead, the House decided to 鈥渞eward鈥� the remaining 55 other school districts.

The idea to penalize the 12 districts was pushed by State Rep. Randy Fine, of Brevard County. And many lawmakers considered it a lightning rod in education budget negotiations. In addition, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried last month sent a letter to the U.S. Education Secretary asking to block the penalties, potentially through legal challenges.

Fine鈥檚 penalty was called the 鈥淧utting Parents First Adjustment.鈥�

But now, the House has created a 鈥淪chool Recognition Program鈥� to reward some school districts for 鈥減utting parents first and complying with the Parents鈥� Bill of Rights鈥� by recognizing the efforts of outstanding faculty and staff from these school districts who have overcome pandemic-related learning disruptions to maintain highly productive schools.鈥�

As to the 12 school districts, they won鈥檛 get 鈥渞ecognition鈥� dollars from the new program.  Republican Rep. Jay Trumbull, chair of the House Appropriations committee, said that 鈥渢his is not a cut to these (12) school districts because they did not get these dollars last year.鈥�

He told reporters on March 8:

鈥淪chool Recognition, which no school district got last year 鈥� we put $200 million dollars into the School Recognition fund and then the 12 counties that, you know, disobeyed the rule, the law at the time, we just didn鈥檛 give those counties the school recognition dollars鈥︹��

However, those 12 school districts argued that they were protecting schoolchildren and staff during the Delta surge in the pandemic, and they used masks as a tool.

Sen. Kelli Stargel, the Senate Appropriations Chair, jumped in: 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not eligible for School Recognition.鈥� She is a Republican who represents part of Lake and Polk counties.

Trumbell said that the School Recognition proposal is 鈥渕uch more clean than the original鈥� plan.

The discussion last week on the 2022-23 state budget is not the final say. It鈥檚 not clear how the elimination of penalties will compare to the new 鈥渞ewards鈥� and how that will play out when school districts receive all their funding.

The House and Senate still needed to come together on a final state budget before the end of the 2022 legislative session. The state education budget funds Florida鈥檚 massive public education system that serves millions of K-12 students.

As of March 8, the budget has not yet been finalized and the House and Senate.  The legislative session was originally scheduled to end March 11.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on and .

It was 鈥�unfair, unreasonable, and does harm to our community,鈥� the school board letter stated.

鈥淭his proposal is not based on any sound fiscal policy or need-based rationale, but rather is a mechanism to punish the twelve districts who had different views on how to protect their school children and staff.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

As the Legislature negotiates a final state budget in the coming weeks, the state House and Senate will have to come to an agreement on the $200 million. The Senate鈥檚 version of the 2022-23 state budget doesn鈥檛 include the $200 million. The House has already approved the amount in its budget, describing the initiative as 鈥淧utting Parents First Adjustment.鈥�

Meanwhile, school districts will be fighting against the House proposal.

John Sullivan, director of legislative affairs for Broward County public schools, told the Florida Phoenix that lawsuits could be in consideration should the $200 million goes through.

鈥淲e would explore all options in terms of dealing with this鈥hich may include legal action,鈥� Sullivan said. 鈥淭hat would be a decision that the school board would have to make, so I can鈥檛 say definitively if they would do that, but that would be one of the tools that they would explore to to try to neutralize this penalty if it would come to fruition.鈥�

Jackie Johnson, communication staffer at the Alachua County school district, told the Phoenix that it鈥檚 鈥渦nrealistic to expect that cutting $200 million dollars from 12 districts in the state is not going to impact students.鈥�

Johnson noted that while local school board members were the ones who voted to implement a strict mask mandate on Florida students, district administrators and others could be impacted by the proposal 鈥渟imply because they work in that district.鈥�

Other districts aren鈥檛 speculating on how the funds would impact their schools until there is a final state budget.

Kelsey Whealy, communication staffer with the Sarasota County school district, told the Phoenix in an email that: 鈥�The district is unable to speculate about proposed legislation and its potential impacts on finances (or if the case may be, existing policies).鈥�

鈥淓ach session, we monitor the movement of legislation that is slated to affect schools; however, we are only able determine the scope of changes to finances (or existing policies) when we have final legislation from which to work,鈥� Whealy said.

Russell Bruhn with the Brevard County school district said 鈥渢here鈥檚 nothing really that we can kind of know for sure until we actually know what the budget looks like.鈥�

The 12 districts related to the $200 million are Miami-Dade, Broward, Hillsborough, Orange, Palm Beach, Duval Alachua, Brevard, Indian River, Leon, Sarasota, and Volusia. Those district school boards had repeatedly said they were trying to protect students and staff during the surging COVID-19 pandemic, and that鈥檚 why they used mask mandates.

Earlier this week Gov. Ron DeSantis signaled his support for penalizing the 12 school districts in a tweet:

鈥淭hanks to Speaker (Chris) Sprowls, Representative (Randy) Fine, and the House of Representatives for heeding my call to protect students and teachers from accountability measures affecting union-controlled politicians and bureaucrats who defied Florida law by force masking kids鈥et鈥檚 also give parents recourse for harms imposed on their kids due to this defiance. They should get compensated for academic social, and emotional problems cause by these policies.鈥�

Meanwhile, Agriculture Commissioner  has already sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, urging him to prevent state lawmakers from penalizing the 12 districts. Fried is currently campaigning for the Democratic nominee in the 2022 gubernatorial election.

State Rep. Randy Fine, who serves as chair of the House PreK-12 appropriations committee, proposed the measure, claiming the 12 districts had broken the law and needed be held accountable for implementing mask mandates that the DeSantis administration and some parents didn鈥檛 want.

As to the Orange County school board, their letter to the Orange County delegation could raise legal questions regarding the Florida Constitution and state law.

In the letter to the members of the delegation, the school board implied that the Putting Parents First Adjustment could be in violation of the Florida Constitution and Florida law. The letter claims that the Florida Legislature is 鈥�constitutionally prohibited from passing a general law of local application to impose fines,鈥� among other legal questions.

The letter does not explicitly say if the Orange County School Board considering legal action.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on and .

Citing falling case numbers, Gov. Roy Cooper announced that he is encouraging school boards to lift mask mandates at a Feb. 17 press conference.

He said masking and gathering limits were the best tools available at the beginning of the pandemic, but they aren’t the only options anymore with PPE, testing, and vaccinations widely available.

This doesn’t necessarily change much 鈥� local school boards have had the authority to set their own masking rules since Cooper lifted his executive order last spring. However, at the same time that Cooper made this announcement, the state legislature passed a bill that would go even further.

The bill, , would allow parents to opt out of local mask mandates for their children.

They wouldn’t have to give an explanation, and the bill also says unmasked students should not be treated differently. The bill does not apply to school staff.

Cooper did not say whether he would sign this bill. He emphasized that local control is important and has concerns that the bill is “unwise and irresponsible.”

“Are we going to let people pick and choose what public health rules they’re going to follow?” he asked. “I’ll review it, but I certainly have concerns about what I’ve heard.”

The bill is an updated version of last summer’s Free the Smiles Act, which was a measure to allow local education boards to make their own mask rules.

Now that schools are in the third year of this pandemic, , R-Cleveland, and other Republican lawmakers said parents should have the ultimate authority to decide if their child wears a mask in school.

“But most importantly,” Moore told the House K-12 Education Committee on last week, “[this bill] is going to reaffirm the absolute right that parents should be the one making these decisions for their children and not the government.”

Almost every leader who spoke on Feb. 17 recognized that the pandemic has been difficult for parents, educators, and students. Where they differed was on whether it was time to act now.

Moore said that it doesn’t make sense for North Carolina to continue allowing mandates when other states are lifting them.

He said he has heard from school districts that they want to back off on their mask mandates but feel state health guidance has not allowed them to do so.

Up until as recently as last week, the for schools recommended the use of masks. The universal indoor masking, particularly in areas with substantial community spread.

At least that they would let their mask mandates expire, while others have banned them altogether, including neighboring Tennessee and South Carolina.

However, some states that have lifted statewide mandates have kept them for schools.

Several Democratic lawmakers pushed back during debate, saying SB 173 is unnecessary or could confuse parents more.

“You just said that you want these decisions to be made based on science, not political science,” , D-Caswell, Orange, said to Moore. “Unfortunately, our discussion of masks in this country has become more political science than science. I think you would agree on that. And if we have a public health provision in place, like a mask mandate, wouldn’t the ability of parents to opt out of that be driven just as much by political science as science?”

, D-Mecklenburg, said lawmakers should also evaluate the lack of school nurses, psychologists, and social workers in school in this conversation about students’ well-being.

“We the legislature can fund these positions, and I strongly urge that we do that,” she said.

According to , school-age children have collectively made up 17% of cases since March 2020. Those numbers experienced a spike when students returned to school in January 2022.

Children aged 5-17 are now able to receive the Pfizer vaccine, but only and are fully vaccinated.

Following the introduction of the bill, the N.C. Association of Educators (NCAE) released a statement saying it supports the use of masks to protect the health of students and staff.

鈥淲e join everyone in hoping for the day when health officials say that students no longer need to wear masks,” NCAE President Tamika Walker Kelly said in a statement. “Yet, the proposed legislation undermines local decision-making and prioritizes partisan politics over public health and safety.鈥�

Cooper and DHHS Secretary Kody Kinsley said people now know how to gauge their risk levels and encouraged those who are high risk or have been exposed to wear masks.

鈥淲e are taking a positive step on mask requirements to help us move safely toward a more normal day-to-day life,鈥� Cooper said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 time to focus on getting our children a good education and improving our schools, no matter how you feel about masks.鈥�

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

鈥淎nything with 鈥榓 sociological or cultural theme.鈥欌��

Lately, the phone at the Minnesota School Boards Association has been ringing off the hook with dozens of calls from anxious leaders of small school districts 鈥� sometimes very small 鈥� facing a common quandary. 

They have been inundated with public records requests seeking millions of documents with information on everything from their schools鈥� COVID protocols to classroom materials, names of teachers and the buildings where they work, even text messages that mention race or social-emotional services.

Sometimes the requests come from law firms. Often they come from local residents who have protested mask and vaccine requirements at school board meetings. Clearly boilerplates, some letters go to multiple districts at once. 

The school officials making the phones ring are anxious about a range of things. There鈥檚 the cost and labor required to fulfill the requests, which districts report have skyrocketed in the last six months. There are demands that information be produced on tight timelines 鈥� sometimes bolstered by legal citations that don鈥檛 apply in Minnesota. And particularly when the person asking for information has been a loud fixture at board meeting protests, there are fears about being singled out for retaliation. 

It鈥檚 a variation of a scenario playing out across the country, as local groups 鈥� often loose organizations of people initially angered by schools鈥� responses to COVID-19 鈥� coalesce around how topics related to race, history, the LGBT community and antisemitism are taught. Some are getting help from national organizations and law firms.

In Owatonna, about an hour south of the Twin Cities, attorneys representing a local organization requested correspondence and documents in August that officials estimated would encompass 2 million pages. The district鈥檚 human resources director has been chipping away at it, in addition to her regular duties and the additional strains of keeping schools staffed during a pandemic.

In nearby Rochester, school leaders warned that it would cost an estimated $900,000 to fulfill a 41-page request from the local group Equality in Education for materials mentioning a broad range of subjects including critical race theory, equity and anything with 鈥渁 sociological or cultural theme.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

The Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan school system received a request that it initially estimated would take two years to fulfill. The requesting attorney, whose Twin Cities law firm takes on far-right legal battles, trimmed the list of keywords he wanted searched, and the district hired two people to review the resulting documents for private data that would need redacting. District leaders now anticipate delivering the records by the end of the calendar year.  

Laws vary from state to state as to what reimbursement schools can collect for answering public records requests, but under Minnesota鈥檚 Data Practices Act, districts must cover some potentially significant expenses. This year, the school boards association, among others, is to either find funds to pay for fulfilling the requests or allow districts to recover all costs from requesters. 

This, in turn, has prompted freedom of information advocates to ask the Legislature not to change the law or to make accessing public data more expensive. They have on their side a recent Minnesota Supreme Court ruling that government agencies must fulfill even public records requests they find 鈥渂urdensome.鈥�

There鈥檚 nothing new about people frustrated with notoriously opaque school districts. Or about government officials grousing about the obligation to comply with the law 鈥� particularly when they find themselves in the hot seat. But freedom of information is never more important than when trust between the public and public institutions is low.

Watching nervously as the debate rages, Minnesota鈥檚 government transparency advocates worry: Will freedom of information survive? 

THE RECORD KEEPERS

鈥淧olitically motivated, overreaching demands that are designed to bury districts.鈥�

When reporters ask for records under a state or federal freedom of information law, they often work to phrase their request in a way that it is comprehensive enough to compel public officials to produce everything relevant, and yet specific enough that it can be fulfilled in a reasonable amount of time. Requests rarely run more than one or two pages. 

On Sept. 20, 2021, the interim superintendent of Rochester Public Schools received a records request that is 41 pages long and asks for 20 months worth of documents. Prepared by a Minneapolis law firm on behalf of Equality in Education, it set a deadline of Dec. 15. One reason the request is so long is that it seeks information for almost all of the district鈥檚 two dozen schools 鈥� to identify classrooms and other specific places where the topics in question are under discussion 鈥� as well as for individual officials and board members.

In addition to an exhaustive list of search terms such as 鈥渆quity, social justice, cultural competency, race, intersectionality” or critical race theory, it asks for curriculum covering history, social studies, geography, English, English literature, U.S. history and world history, and 鈥渁ny courses with a sociological or cultural theme [and] any courses with a curriculum that includes a discussion of current events.鈥�

The request also seeks a list of vendors that have produced materials on the aforementioned topics for district schools, groups that have rented school facilities, student groups that use related resources and materials, and communications with the state鈥檚 teacher union, Education Minnesota, and other unions. 

Requests for keyword searches of staff emails are common, says interim Superintendent Kent Pekel. But Equality in Education is seeking communications from every principal in the district, among other employees.

鈥淵ou can imagine some principal is just sending email to someone on their staff about an equity training they did or a workshop they attended,鈥� he says. 鈥淭his sent a very cold chill through our buildings.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;       

Equality in Education does not appear to have an internet presence, and the request did not name any individual associated with the group. The Minneapolis law firm that sent the letter outlining the records sought is Mohrman, Kaardal & Erickson, which did not respond to email from 蜜桃影视 asking if a representative of Equality in Education or the group鈥檚 lawyer would comment for this story.

Here鈥檚 an additional fact about the 41-page data request that Rochester Public Schools has received: it would cost us $900,000 to fulfill every aspect of the request. That鈥檚 $$$ and time that would otherwise go to educating Rochester students.

鈥� Kent Pekel (@KentPekel)

In November, the district responded to the group鈥檚 attorney, saying the estimated cost of fulfilling the request was $901,121, which by law it could ask to be paid before starting the work. 

The cost is so high because principals, teachers and other staff would have to comb through emails, textbooks, professional development materials and other documents throughout the entire district and decide whether they contain the aforementioned sociological or cultural themes, says Pekel. Because of this, fulfilling the request would take more than 13,000 hours.  

In an effort to make information accessible to the general public, limits the costs government agencies can pass along to people lodging data requests. Anyone may ask to inspect an existing document in person for free and must be allowed to take a photo of it. If someone wants copies, electronic or paper, the agency may charge for the time spent compiling information, as well as making the copies. Districts cannot seek reimbursement for the cost of vetting and redacting records for information that might violate student or employee privacy laws. 

In response to people who say this sounds like an immense expense, freedom of information advocates point out that taxpayers have already paid to collect the information and that with the state鈥檚 law nearly a half-century old, most public entities long ago built the cost of compliance into their budgets.  

The executive director of the Association of Metropolitan School Districts, Scott Croonquist, says he is unaware of anyone tracking which school systems have budgeted for the costs of complying with public records requests. 鈥淚鈥檓 just guessing that given what鈥檚 been happening lately, that districts are going to be looking harder at putting more money into a line item to be prepared,鈥� he says.  

While Minnesota 鈥� at least in the law 鈥� errs on the side of public access, it does not set a timeline for agencies to fulfill requests, saying only it must be 鈥渞easonable.鈥� Disputes can be taken, free of charge, to the state Department of Administration. Requesters may also sue. If they win, they are entitled to recoup the cost of going to court. 

What鈥檚 “reasonable,” of course, is the subject of endless debate. In 2018, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that government offices can鈥檛 reject requests for being 鈥渂urdensome.鈥� They can and frequently do suggest ways for narrowing a search or reframing it to be quicker and easier to fulfill, but the person asking for the data doesn鈥檛 have to agree. 

The first request received by Owatonna Public Schools in August included 26 search terms and any records involving complaints about equity initiatives and teacher training, and asked for the documents to be delivered in 35 days. 

After some back and forth with the district, United Patriots for Accountability and its Twin Cities law firm, the 鈥� which has as one mission the 鈥渇ight against Critical Race Theory indoctrination鈥� as well as 鈥淐RT鈥檚 twin: forced teaching and training on and acceptance of anti-Christian non-binary-gender ideology鈥� 鈥� removed seven keywords.

Because the records would have to be screened for privacy concerns, the district鈥檚 human resources director, Chris Picha, took on the task. It took her six weeks to compile and redact documents in response to the just first four keywords, at a cost of $14,000 in labor alone. 

The request to the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan school system also came from the Upper Midwest Law Center. District officials say they gave an estimate of how long it would take to fulfill the firm鈥檚 request, as freedom of information advocates and state officials advise 鈥� in this case, two years. The lawyers pared back the data they were asking for and agreed to receive the results in chunks. 

鈥淲e鈥檙e asking for reasonable parameters,鈥� says district communications director Tony Taschner. 鈥淏ut somebody halfway across the country can lodge a request and we have to spend local levy money on it.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

In November, the editorial boards of two southern Minnesota newspapers fired shots across the local requesters鈥� bows. In late November, the Mankato Free Press lodged in Owatonna and Rochester were 鈥減olitically motivated, overreaching demands that are designed to bury districts.鈥� The Rochester paper followed with extolling the importance of the public records law, underscoring that parents 鈥渁bsolutely have the right to know鈥� if critical race theory is being taught, but suggesting that information could be obtained with a much narrower request. 

鈥淚f Equality in Education has other motives,鈥� the editors wrote, 鈥渨ell, we wish them good luck as they peruse the tens of thousands of pages of documents in their search for a third-grade teacher鈥檚 text message that uses the words 鈥榬ace鈥� and 鈥榗ritical鈥� in the same sentence.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

In a response to the Mankato paper鈥檚 editorial, James V.F. Dickey, senior trial counsel for the Upper Midwest Law Center, defended the scope of United Patriots for Accountability鈥檚 appeal for documents. 鈥淚f Owatonna were truly not teaching [critical race theory], and if there was no real concern that teachers within the district are doing so, the data request would have yielded few, if any, results,鈥� he wrote, adding that it was inappropriate to 鈥渓ump in鈥� his request with the one filed in Rochester.

In an email to 蜜桃影视, Dickey added that his clients visit district offices at agreed-upon times during the school day to review documents as they become available, for free.

THE OPEN RECORDS WATCHDOGS

鈥淚f we look at this solely as a public records issue, we鈥檙e not going to fix it.鈥�

One of the people answering the phone at the is Executive Director Kirk Schneidawind. Because many of the boards his organization represents are too small to have staff dedicated to fulfilling public records requests, the association has long been a go-to source for advice. 

To judge from the calls pouring in to the association, every district in the state recently got identical letters from a Texas law firm seeking extensive personnel information. Other requests district leaders have asked for advice about say the recipient has 10 days to provide the data and cite a non-Minnesota statute as justification for the deadline. Schneidawind and his colleagues have tried to provide clarity about districts鈥� actual obligations. 

Minnesota’s law has provisions intended to protect government agencies from becoming swamped with frivolous requests, says Don Gemberling, spokesperson for the . This includes allowing agencies to ask for costs up front, as Rochester has done. The state has also advised agencies on how to stop responding to people who repeatedly ask for records but don鈥檛 retrieve documents prepared for them.   

The process of complying with freedom of information requests has changed over the last couple of decades, says Gemberling, who used to be the Department of Administration official responsible for helping agencies interpret the law, in part because the increase in digital records has enabled people to ask for keyword searches. This can turn up a very large number of relevant documents 鈥� but the data is still public.

鈥淚f someone comes in and wants to see all of your curriculum matter on the Roman Empire, that鈥檚 public information,鈥� says Gemberling, who has also issued opinions about some of the extremes to which the process can be pushed. 鈥淚f someone comes in with a large request, you can say, 鈥榃e will do our best, and that may take us weeks or months.鈥欌��

A member of the Minnesota Council on Government Information鈥檚 board, Matt Ehling says there鈥檚 nothing new about high-profile events provoking large public records requests. 鈥淭his happens whenever there鈥檚 a controversial incident,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he Data Practices Act has survived all this time because it has that 鈥榬easonable time鈥� provision.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

Gemberling says that in his experience, school districts are prone to giving the public unclear answers about controversial topics. That people get frustrated and seek alternate means of finding information should surprise no one, he says.

Still, the school board association, along with the Association of Metropolitan School Districts, this year plans to ask state lawmakers to 鈥渁llow school boards to recover all reasonable costs of fulfilling public data requests.鈥� No bill has yet been filed, and neither group has yet said whether it wants the cost to be borne by the state or the people requesting the records.

鈥淲e鈥檙e hopeful there will be some way to charge back for those costs,鈥� says Schneidawind. 鈥淥r any type of relief on excessive requests. Maybe paying for the staffing this will require.鈥�

On the other side is, among others, the , led by journalists and librarians. 鈥淲hen government entities have sought to impose new limits on public requesters, we have always stressed the flexibility of existing law, and worked to enhance knowledge about the options available to government entities,鈥� the council wrote in a letter to lawmakers. Noting that complaints about the law from public agencies are nothing new, the council continued, 鈥淭his is something we continue to highlight at the current time, particularly as the Minnesota School Board Association has included calls for 鈥榬ecovering costs鈥� associated with data requests in its 2022 legislative agenda.鈥�

Shifting the cost of compliance onto the people asking for records would constrict access to public information, the letter says: 鈥淧articularly in times of public controversy 鈥� such as those we currently find ourselves in 鈥� public knowledge about government operations is paramount.鈥�

A law professor at Ohio State University, Margaret Kwoka recently published a book on freedom of information laws. Historically, use of such laws for abuse and harassment has been rare, she says, and most public agencies build the cost of complying into their budgets.

鈥淚鈥檓 always skeptical of having more ways we can deny requesters,鈥� she says, noting that increasing fees will pose a serious challenge for local news outlets, which already often struggle to get their requests fulfilled.  

Besides, she says, the debate skirts the heart of the matter. 鈥淥ne way of looking at this is it鈥檚 not really about public records, it鈥檚 really about academic freedom,鈥� says Kwoka. 鈥淚f we look at this solely as a public records issue, we鈥檙e not going to fix it.鈥�

A PRAIRIE FIRE IS LIT

鈥淣ot hearing what I have to say鈥ill be extremely detrimental to your position.”

Located in far southeastern Minnesota, Lewiston-Altura Public Schools has 625 students. Like most small-town school administrators, its superintendent, Gwen Carman, counts fielding public records inquiries among her many duties.

In November, she started getting unusual requests. There was one for data on COVID-19 tests administered and their results, and another asking whether there was a hazardous materials protocol for disposing of face masks. Several sought information about school board members’ pay, their attendance at board meetings and liability insurance the district carried for them.  

Then came a request for the first, middle and last names of every person who works for the district, as well as email addresses, job titles, date of hires and the buildings where they work. The biggest request demanded anything turned up by a keyword search of Carman鈥檚 and board members鈥� emails regarding critical race theory, social-emotional learning or 鈥� curiously 鈥� how Lewiston-Altura proposes to comply with a school improvement law.

鈥淚 haven鈥檛 gotten the invoices yet, but the legal fees are going to be high,鈥� says Carman. 鈥淲e鈥檙e spending hours on this.鈥�

While residents seeking public records in communities like Lewiston may not be formally organized, there are national organizations coaching people on filing their requests. One such group is Parents Defending Education, a national nonprofit that sprung up last spring to counter what it sees as indoctrination in schools. According to its website, it investigates efforts 鈥渢o impose toxic new curriculums and to force our kids into divisive identity groups based on race, ethnicity, religion and gender.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

鈥淲e have extensive experience , so contact us with tips and ideas that you鈥檝e got for documents we should try to get,鈥� the website states. 鈥淎nd if you file your own and think you鈥檝e found something great, let us know 鈥� we can put it on our IndoctriNation Map and help to publicize your results!鈥� The site offers a database of state laws.

There is also a searchable list of consultants and groups that work with school systems to provide training and other services relating to diversity and inclusion, LGBT students and anti-racism, among other topics. Visitors can download relevant contracts and other public documents.   

The group’s IndoctriNation Map displays incidents 鈥� links, documents or synopses of school district controversies 鈥� and parent organizations, which it notes are not necessarily affiliated. Some of the places where school systems are being asked for large numbers of records appear on its Minnesota map.

Parents Defending Education did not reply to 蜜桃影视鈥檚 request for comment. 

Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan, for instance, made the map for a teacher reading her fourth-graders 鈥淪omething Happened in Our Town,鈥� a story about how two families of different races process the killing of a Black man by police, in the wake of George Floyd鈥檚 killing. Qorsho Hassan, Minnesota鈥檚 first Somali teacher of the year, was the subject of protests and social media campaigns.

Parents Defending Education is not the only national organization helping people use freedom of information laws to investigate school districts. The year-old advocacy organization Moms for Liberty, which has two Minnesota chapters, who are concerned about issues ranging from mask mandates to books in school libraries on how to use public records laws to hold local government accountable. Its members have filed complaints over books about the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Ruby Bridges, and have demanded Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to pass unspecified laws to protect children and parents. 

Under Minnesota law, a requester鈥檚 motives don鈥檛 matter, but to Carman, a picture was coming into focus. After she fulfilled the written request for information on board members鈥� liability insurance, for instance, a group of protesters showed up at a meeting and handed every member an envelope containing a demand for $250,000 in recompense 鈥� for what, it was not clear. 

But in a few instances, she got a second round of requests that were identical to the first, except this time they came from a man named Keith Haskell, who identifies himself as an investigator with the National Action Task Force. According to its website, the group is a 鈥渄ecentralized private membership network of concerned Americans [who] have decided that ‘enough is enough’!鈥�  

Taking It To The Enemies! NATF National Action Task Force Investigator in MN takes on schoolboards with $250,00.00 claims and complaints!

鈥� 507PatriotMN (@507Patriot)

Haskell did not reply to a request for comment for this story.

He has appeared before other school boards to argue against mask mandates, insisting in at least one other community that board members鈥� approval of the requirements 鈥減unctures鈥� their legal immunity as elected officials, opening them up to demands such as the ones delivered in Lewiston-Altura. 

The group’s website lists a Washington, D.C., address that corresponds to a company that offers its 鈥渧irtual office address鈥� for 鈥渦se on business cards, website, etc.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

As first reported by the Minnesota politics blog , Haskell was convicted in 2017 of impersonating a police officer after two teens he suspected of shoplifting. 

He raised the topic of school board member liability during remarks he made at a board meeting in Brainerd, a northern resort community. When he refused to stop speaking after the three minutes allotted during the public comment period, the board paused its proceedings. 

鈥淚 assure you that not hearing what I have to say tonight and taking it very seriously will be extremely detrimental to your position on this board, to your entire board and you as an individual,鈥� the as saying. 

Haskell also insisted that board members had 鈥減ierced the veil of protection鈥� they had as elected officials and were no longer covered by the district鈥檚 insurance policies. 

鈥淥bviously, that鈥檚 threatening to board members,鈥� says Carman. 鈥淚t鈥檚 bullying.鈥�

The law is very clear about the narrow circumstances in which an individual can sue, and Lewiston-Altura鈥檚 board members are not at risk, she says. But the strife is taking its toll.

鈥淥ur board members understand this is absolutely not the time, they cannot quit, even though this is incredibly stressful,鈥� Carman adds. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 frustrating is none of this has anything to do with educating kids.鈥�

Correction: The response to the Mankato paper鈥檚 editorial was in regard to a request for documents by United Patriots for Accountability.

The additional lawsuits bring the total filed in recent days to 45, .

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The nine districts facing litigation Monday are primarily located throughout the St. Louis metro, and include the districts of Bayless, Jennings, Lexington, Kirkwood, Ritenour, Hancock Place, Meramec Valley, University City and the Special School District of St. Louis County, which is the largest district in the state that serves students with special needs.

Chris Nuelle, a spokesman for Schmitt, said the nine districts were sued Monday because 鈥渢here simply wasn鈥檛 enough time in the day on Friday to file all of these lawsuits.鈥�

鈥淲e filed lawsuits against school districts that we identified as having a mask mandate,鈥� Nuelle said, 鈥渁nd if we learn of others we will consider further legal action.鈥�

The lawsuits allege that, 鈥渟chool districts do not have the authority to impose, at their whim, public health orders for their schoolchildren,鈥� and that state lawmakers did not grant schools the authority to hinge in-person attendance on wearing a mask.

However, school districts that previously faced cease-and-desist letters from Schmitt that allow school boards to issue regulations and more explicitly give schools the authority to remove students from the classroom who may transmit a contagious disease.

The Francis Howell School District in St. Charles County, which was sued by Schmitt last week, issued a statement Friday and arguing locally elected school board members are tasked with making decision for the district鈥檚 students 鈥� not the attorney general.

鈥淭he lawsuit filed by Schmitt is a waste of taxpayer money 鈥� on both sides,鈥� the statement read. 鈥淭he claims are tenuous at best and this unnecessary lawsuit represents another attack on public education in Missouri. This latest action by AG Schmitt is disheartening, unfounded and frankly, shameful.鈥�

Lawsuits previously filed by Schmitt targeting mask mandates have cost local governments hundreds of thousands of dollars, .

Schmitt had previously sued Columbia Public Schools over its masking requirements, and attempted to have the case apply to all districts with mask mandates. A , and the case was dismissed when Columbia allowed its mask mandate to expire. 

Schmitt sued Columbia again last week after it reinstated its mask requirement.

Schmitt鈥檚 lawsuits come at a time when this month in an effort to curb COVID-19 cases in the classroom, The Kansas City Star reported. Districts have also been pressured to drop mitigation measures .

Meanwhile, hospitals continue to grapple with record COVID cases. A to assist BJC-Christian Hospital, and nurses who don鈥檛 usually care for patients .

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com. Follow Missouri Independent on and .

Right now, though, representatives from groups are united on one front: opposition to Gov. Glenn Youngkin鈥檚 on masks in school. On Monday, teachers from the Richmond, Chesterfield and Henrico chapters of the Virginia Education Association gathered to oppose the directive, which gives parents the right to opt out of universal masking requirements in local school districts. The same day, the director of Cato鈥檚 Center for Educational Freedom wrote a criticizing the executive order after confirming with the state Department of Education that it also applies to Virginia private schools. 

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鈥淭he governor is basically saying that parents should not be able to choose a school with a universal mask mandate,鈥� director Neal McCluskey said in a phone call on Monday. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a huge thing to do, especially during a pandemic.鈥� And while his chief concern was how the directive affected private schools, McCluskey also pointed out that it presented serious challenges for public divisions.

鈥淪chools across the state have kind of been whipsawed,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou go back one week and the state is saying you must have mask mandates in place. Then you get to Monday and the state is saying, no, you actually may not have mask mandates. And it鈥檚 generally not good policy to impose drastic policies on schools in the middle of the year.鈥�

It鈥檚 a view that鈥檚 shared by many parents and school divisions amid ongoing confusion over the executive order, which went into effect Monday despite legal challenges and sometimes open defiance. Seven local school boards and a group of parents in Chesapeake have now filed two separate lawsuits against the administration, claiming Youngkin lacks the authority to override local masking policies. And while some divisions have , more than a dozen others are keeping their mandates as the order is challenged in court. The Virginia Supreme Court is expected to take up the case this week,

There is legitimate uncertainty about whether Youngkin, as governor, has the ability to overturn local policies. In 2021, the General Assembly passed a law requiring public schools to stay open for in-person instruction. Signed by Gov. Ralph Northam, the language of the law directs divisions to follow mitigation guidance from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention 鈥渢o the maximum extent practicable. Currently, explicitly recommends universal masking for all students, staff and visitors regardless of vaccination status.

It鈥檚 still unclear if the governor can override state law with an executive order. And under the Virginia Constitution, school policy largely falls to the state Board of Education, with day-to-day supervision largely left to local school boards. While Youngkin has how he plans to enforce the executive order, it鈥檚 not certain that he has any authority to take action against noncompliant districts.

For many educators and administrators, though 鈥� as well as students and their families 鈥� frustration with the order is more about the practical impacts. In divisions keeping their universal masking policies, teachers are now largely tasked with enforcement if children show up to school without face coverings. 

鈥淔or Richmond, we have communication to encourage students to put their masks back on,鈥� said Katina Harris, president of the Richmond Education Association. 鈥淪ome educators are creating rewards programs, as well, for students who come in with their masks on.鈥�

Confrontation, though, is still a concern. In Fairfax County, students who refuse to comply with the district鈥檚 masking mandate won鈥檛 be allowed to attend in-person instruction, according to a staff-wide webinar held on Monday. As other districts mull similar policies, parents worry that students may get caught in the crosshairs.

Last week, a Page County mother made when she threatened to bring loaded guns to school if the division kept its mask mandate. With similarly contentious debates playing out all over the state, it鈥檚 hard to keep students from worrying that their district won鈥檛 experience something similar, said Als煤in Creighton-Preis, a parent in Henrico County.

鈥淭hese kids have already had to walk the gauntlet of these seemingly normal parents shouting nonsense during school board meetings,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd they鈥檙e all super-connected, so the rumor mill is flying.鈥� Her own daughter, a senior in high school, was nervous that an armed parent might come to school on Monday to protest the district鈥檚 masking policy.

Not every family, though, opposes the order. Alexis Gearhart and John Cantello, parents in Prince William County, sent their three oldest children to school without face coverings on Monday despite the district鈥檚 universal masking policy. Cantello said he鈥檚 worried that continued masking is hurting his children鈥檚 social-emotional development, especially in the case of his six-year-old daughter, who鈥檚 never experienced a typical pre-pandemic school year.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e talking about a whole generation where masks are becoming the new normal,鈥� Cantello said. 鈥淏ut for me, they鈥檙e not normal, and I don鈥檛 want a new normal.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

Ultimately, both parents said their children did put masks back on when their teachers asked them to do so, though Gearhart said her 10-year-old daughter was initially instructed to sit in the back of the classroom. With the masking order still tied up in court, though, some parents and students are worried the debate will only grow more contentious. The divide is especially visible in counties where masks were made optional.

鈥淚鈥檇 say probably 80 percent of students in Powhatan County were not wearing masks,鈥� said Alexander Campbell, a junior who still opted to return to school in a KN95. Some teachers in the district also left their faces uncovered, which he said spurred both gossip and debate among students.

鈥淐OVID has been really difficult in terms of school feeling more awkward, more tense,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd so I鈥檓 wondering, are we going to spiral back to normalcy, or is this tension going to continue to build up to the point where we鈥檙e seeing altercations and social media debate over masks?鈥�

He鈥檚 equally worried that the sudden transition away from face coverings will increase the spread of COVID-19, especially if maskless students don鈥檛 quarantine after close exposures. But on a statewide level, Campbell said he鈥檚 frustrated to see autonomy taken away from local school boards.

鈥淚 found the order ironic because for decades conservatives have been advocating for local control,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd now local officials can鈥檛 make decisions about health when they were elected to make those decisions.鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Robert Zullo for questions: info@virginiamercury.com. Follow Virginia Mercury on and .

鈥淚t has been put back, so we do have that money,鈥� Russell Bruhn, communication staffer with the Brevard County school district, told the Phoenix.

In Orange County, 鈥淭he district received communication from the FLDOE prior to Thanksgiving that they were returning鈥� funds associated with the withholding of school board member salaries,鈥� Orange communications staffer Michael Ollendorff said in an email to the Phoenix.

He shared a document from the education department outlining the electronic transfer of money distributed to these districts on Nov. 29.

The return of the money came at a time when the state鈥檚 education department was under scrutiny by the U.S. Department of Education over potential violations of federal education laws.

The USDE had filed a cease and desist complaint, over the state withholding money from school boards that had gotten federal grants to cover previous financial penalties.

A federal administrative hearing was scheduled for Dec. 10. But the feds withdrew the complaint when the state department returned funds to two school districts that had gotten federal grants. They were Alachua and Broward school districts.

The U.S. Department of Education provided the following statement in an email to the Phoenix:

鈥淔ollowing the state of Florida returning the withheld funds to local education agencies, the Department withdrew the current Cease and Desist complaint. The (U.S.) Department will continue to assist any state or local education agency to sustain safe in-person learning for all students.鈥�

Here is the full breakout for the eight school boards that got their money back:

• Alachua: $194,720
• Brevard: $18,587
• Broward: $526,197
• Miami-Dade: $35,395
• Duval: $26,770
• Leon: $17,199
• Orange: $31,459
• Palm Beach: $27, 527

Jackie Johnson, communications staffer with the Gainesville-based Alachua County school district, told the Phoenix that they returned the money from the federal grant, saying that the district never tapped into those funds.

鈥淭he check we received from the feds 鈥� we sent that back to the feds,鈥� Johnson said. The Phoenix reached out to the Broward County school district in South Florida about it鈥檚 federal grant money and is awaiting response.

Citing the Delta-variant surge earlier in the school year, some school districts wanted to require masks for children, with very few exceptions, but state education official determined it should be up to the parents to decide.

The , and the Florida Board of Education financially penalized eight districts for their strict mask mandates that did not allow parents to decide whether their students wear masks at schools. The state that approved of these strict mask mandates.

The feds got involved and created a new grant program called Project SAFE, intending to support districts that had been penalized by the state for placing COVID mitigation strategies.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on and .

Advocacy groups formed on all sides of the political spectrum with some designed to address long-standing inequities and others meant to push back against what members considered a liberal agenda.

Right-leaning parents who oppose COVID restrictions in schools and the teaching of systemic racism are seen as key to Republican in the Virginia governor鈥檚 race and are already being counted as a in the 2022 midterms. 

Tina Descovich is the co-founder of Moms for Liberty, a high-profile and fast-growing parents鈥� rights organization founded in January. The group boasts 140 chapters in 32 states with roughly 60,000 active members, with 24,000 members in July. 

While Descovich pushes back at descriptions of Moms for Liberty as being solely conservative, many of its members have publicly railed against mask mandates, vaccine requirements and the teaching of critical race theory.

Descovich, who served four years on the Brevard Public Schools Board of Education in Florida before in 2020, said she was prompted to start the organization after observing how poorly some members of her community 鈥� and others throughout the country 鈥� were treated by school administrators when they tried to address hot-button issues surrounding COVID.

ATTENTION School Boards, City Officials, State Legislators, Governors, Congressmen, and every single unelected bureaucrat in between, this message is for YOU.

鈥� Moms for Liberty (@Moms4Liberty)

Moms for Liberty members, wearing shirts emblazoned with the group鈥檚 logo in white lettering and its increasingly recognizable catchphrase, have been attending school board meetings in force across the country, repudiating not only pandemic-related restrictions but many schools鈥� efforts around equity and inclusion. 

Descovich believes their viewpoints are valuable and the discourse long overdue.

This interview was edited for length and clarity.

蜜桃影视: Why do you think Moms for Liberty has had such success in such a short timeframe?

Descovich: We filled a need, just like any other organization or business or anyone that has success when they 鈥� create a way to help people with the problem that they have. And so again, we saw parents kind of floundering not knowing what to do to stand up for their children. We kind of gave them a model and a little background information from experiences that we had had over the previous four years and people are finding that to be helpful.

What are some of the unifying principles among your members?

Our mission is to empower parents to stand up and reclaim their parental rights at all levels of government. Right now, that seems to be really focused on public education because of the things that families have faced over the last two years. The principle that ties us all together is that we love our children, we care for our children and we believe that we are the best decision-makers for our children.

Of course, some people believe it is their fundamental right to send their child to a school with vaccine and face mask mandates. They also love their children and want to protect them.

Yeah, I agree with what you’re saying. And I think everybody deserves a voice in the conversation. What we were seeing was that as COVID was unfolding and 2020 was happening, those that disagreed with what you just said were being silenced. I was watching it happening in my own school board. I remember one specific mom getting up and talking about concerns she had about her child and literally getting heckled from the back of the room. I watched her walk out of our school boardroom in tears. And so they felt, you know, marginalized and like their voices shouldn’t be heard.

Is there a 鈥渉appy medium鈥� in terms of vaccines or mask mandates? People look at these issues as absolute.

I do believe we can live in a world where people get to choose what is best for them. Those that want to continue to mask because they’re more vulnerable, that is their right. And there’s different quality of masks. They could be in an N-95 mask 鈥� They can be six feet away from those that choose not to mask or have been vaccinated and feel like they don’t need to mask anymore or have had COVID. Every person needs to make the decision that is best for them.

Much of what you said about the founding of your organization 鈥� how it sprang up in response to parents not being heard 鈥� is actually in line with other parent groups on the opposite side of the political spectrum. Yet your group has a conservative political bent. How did that happen?

I think because of the issues of today 鈥� but to assume we’re conservative, I know that’s how we’ve been branded, locally and nationally. I did an unscientific survey of our chapter chairs a couple of weeks ago 鈥� and we have quite a few that are independents, one Democrat. So, the idea that 鈥� only conservative parents should be part of our organization 鈥� it’s just false. We want better educational outcomes for all children. And if there’s a segment of our organization that wants to fight for, you know, our Title I schools to get more services, we will gladly support them. We welcome them. We want to help with that fight.

But if a parent wanted the right to stand up and say, “We need a mask mandate,鈥� or 鈥淲e need mandatory vaccines,” they could not be part of your organization, correct?

So, I think that we would diverge when it came down to the issues of individual liberty. I mean, our title is Moms for Liberty. So 鈥� once a parent wants to make decisions for other children, and force things on them, I think that’s where it would divert and our values would separate. If they want to go in and fight for 鈥� a better curriculum that targets a certain demographic, you know, we would support that all day long.

What if you had a mom who wanted their child to learn about Ruby Bridges and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? Is that something Moms for Liberty would appreciate?

One hundred percent. Yes.

Even though you have members within your organization fighting to take those same materials out of children’s hands?

Yeah, I think you’re just looking at headlines. You’re probably talking about They went through every book, every piece of curriculum for English language arts, from K-6, and they made a huge spreadsheet. They put, I think, 1,000 hours into that and they logged all of their concerns. As a parent, they have the right to do that. What I have seen from that chapter is they have legitimate concerns about the grade level that some of the stuff is introduced 鈥� Nobody that I know of in our group wants to not teach about Martin Luther King or Ruby Bridges for that matter 鈥� I think all parents and community members should have open minds, open hearts, open conversations. If you can’t have that and people just want to label somebody a racist or a bigot or these names because they don’t want to hear anybody else’s input, I think that’s unfortunate 鈥� and it will not move us forward.

Does your organization take a stance on critical race theory?

Nationally, we have not officially taken a stance on any issue. We try to support our local chapters and things that they’re fighting for, helping them get exposure and uncover issues that they want to bring to light.

What are you most proud of in terms of your membership? Is there anything you’re seeing from some of your members and their approach to school board officials that you would discourage?

So, we鈥se the term “joyful warriors” when we talk about Moms for Liberty. We want that word to resonate with all of our members. We want them to feel confident to stand up for their children and what they’re seeing and what they believe. But we want to be 鈥� the most kind, most joyful protesters out there by any stretch of the imagination. We get a lot of flak for other organizations and other parents and what they’re doing. But what I see our chapter chairs doing 鈥� and what I’ve been trying to share a little bit more of on social media 鈥� is doing drives for school supplies … I’ve seen them do things to try to support the schools and the administrators 鈥� that are really working hard to educate our children … We have chapters that are engaging with their school boards in a very productive way. They have built relationships with them. They’re doing meetings with them, one on one, showing them their concerns and 鈥� things are being handled. That’s not the stuff that makes the news and makes the limelight. And that’s the ultimate goal. A lot of the stuff that’s been catchy and flashy these days, is where the relationship starts breaking down and people have to come to the meetings and things are getting a little bit more heated.

Some school board meetings have become particularly vitriolic. The National School Boards Association recently walked back remarks about domestic terrorism, but I think we would both agree that the threats against school staff are really frightening. I would imagine that is not something you would support.

We absolutely do not support that in any way, shape, or form. If any of our members act in that manner, they will be removed from our organization. But to add to that, this isn’t anything new. Tiffany [Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice] and I both served for four years on our school boards, and we could (share) all of the things that we went through: the threats, the constant harassment 鈥� I’m shocked at maybe the level of exposure it’s getting right now. Maybe it’s more widespread than it ever has been. But here in Florida and Brevard County and in Indian River County 鈥� Tiffany and myself can attest to threats that have been happening for a lot of years.

Have you ever felt truly frightened by someone who you felt was going to go after your life, your job or your family?

I can show you 鈥� messages from strangers that say, “I hope to inject your family with COVID. I’m going to make sure your kids get sick.” This was back in 2020. We (the school board) were having open public discussions about opening schools and things of that nature. If you want to go back a couple of years prior to that when I was on the school board right after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas massacre 鈥� and we were debating publicly here if we wanted to have guardians armed in our schools and the threats that I received during that time. Yes, it was scary. Just like school board members now, I had to have a police escort in and out of 鈥� a town hall that we had here. So, to me, this is nothing new. We’ve experienced it firsthand. It’s unacceptable. It’s inappropriate behavior. It is never good. We do not support it. We speak out against it. And we will remove any member 鈥� that acts in that manner.

Regarding the Marjory Stoneman Douglas massacre, what sparked those threats against you?

I was supporting arming employees. I need to say this very carefully because I got branded as someone that wanted to arm teachers. That was not the case. At the time, the state legislature here in Florida had made a provision that allowed, because we did not have enough school security officers 鈥� and the sheriff and the local municipalities did not have enough employees to give our schools 鈥� and there was a state mandate that we had to have an armed person in each school 鈥� they made a provision that you could train someone through your local sheriff’s department that was former law enforcement or former military that worked currently in the school. They could voluntarily go through the six-week training, and then be able to conceal carry in the schools to protect the school in case of an active shooter. I was very interested in that program 鈥� and that’s what brought on that vitriol.

And then there was another instance during the pandemic that your family was being threatened?

Yeah, I believe those started when I was pushing to open schools.

And were you the only board member pushing to open at that time?

I don’t remember off the top of my head … This was the summer of 2020. Schools around the country were still closed. This is before the governor said we were going to open schools here. So, we as the school board felt like it was our decision if we were going to open or not鈥e all moved all over the spectrum during these discussions and debates.

Some people might look at groups like yours and say, “I’m uncomfortable with parents, many of whom have no background in education, making decisions that impact all children in the district, with their wishes supplanting people who have devoted their entire lives to education.” What makes parents qualified to do what they are doing now across the country?

So, there’s no one that knows my child better than I. When it comes to all these decisions, not just curriculum, but in anything, you know, I have been blessed with my children. And it is not only my right, but my responsibility to make sure that the best is provided for them in every fashion. And, you know, I think it’s important to look at all sides. I think it’s important to listen to the experts that have done these studies. But the ultimate and final decision on my child should be made by the parents.

One of your Moms for Liberty organizers recently wished for a mass exodus from the public schools and a turn toward homeschooling. Has that come up throughout your chapters?

That is not our national stance at all. As an organization, we, Tiffany and I, have been very clear from Day One, we want to fix public education. We think it is vital that America has, you know, an excellent, best-in-the-world public education system. And we think that will be attained by parents being awake, involved, engaged. I mean, we know every study shows, when parents are involved in their children’s education, scores, grades, the outcomes are 鈥� always better.

What is your goal politically? Do you have political aspirations for your members beyond the school board?

The places where we have good relationships with our school board members, I think, you know, that’s wonderful. That’s the ultimate goal. But when you have school board members that will not listen, that are trying to silence parents, silence the public and go against a parent’s right to have input on what their child is learning and how they’re being raised, then yes, I hope our members will decide and choose to go run and fill that seat.

So much of the Virginia governor’s race is focused on education. What is Moms for Liberty’s role in this critical race? Is your group becoming politically active or trying to get out the vote?

No, we have no involvement in that race whatsoever. We will continue to just advocate for parents and candidates that align with standing up for parental rights.

As an organization, Moms for Liberty has not come out for a particular gubernatorial candidate?

We’ve given counsel and direction to all of our chapters that they are allowed to endorse candidates 鈥� but only in school board races.

Is there any way for your group to become a political organization?

We are a registered nonprofit . So, we cannot get all in for political activism in that way. We are allowed to be issue based 鈥� parental rights focus at all times. Now, we are considering maybe branching out 鈥� with maybe a more political arm forming in that area in the future.

How is your organization funded? And what’s your budget?

We are still funded by mostly just small donors.

You don’t have a big donor, right, like the Koch brothers or some other major conservative group?

We’e seen all the national stuff that says, you know, we’re part of this conservative affiliation with Koch brothers behind us. And that’s completely untrue. I don’t know the Koch brothers. I actually Googled them for the first time the other day. We do sell a lot of T-shirts. [The group sells merchandise on its website from $10 to $75]. That’s our biggest funding source right now. Our annual budget 鈥� just broke $150,000.

And what will that money be used for?

A lot of it goes back into buying more products. But we’re using it to fund the national organization, web development, data management, things of that nature 鈥� We just opened a little tiny office here in Brevard County 鈥� People have just been very generous with everything from their money to supporting our products to just giving us things that we need to be able to move forward.

鈥淵ou better grow eyes in the back of your head,鈥� she said one person wrote in an email. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e going down,鈥� wrote another.

Toy-Dragoni said the vitriol began to intensify after the pandemic shuttered classes at the Pennsbury School District in Bucks County. What began as anger over school closures and mask mandates quickly turned 鈥� amid national pushback to critical race theory 鈥� to outrage over the district鈥檚 diversity and equity efforts. A barrage of hateful and violent emails left Toy-Dragoni, the school board president, feeling harassed and threatened, including by people who lived in other states.

鈥淚t鈥檚 unnerving because someone is saying they want nothing but harm to come to you and they鈥檙e emailing you 30 times about it,鈥� she told 蜜桃影视. 鈥淵ou start to think 鈥榃ell, how long are they going to wait for this harm to come to me?鈥欌��

As public education leaders from across the country come forward with stories about receiving death threats amid political strife over the pandemic and classroom lessons on systemic racism, a partisan feud has coalesced around the free-speech rights of infuriated parents. In a recent letter, the National School Boards Association warned of an 鈥渋mmediate threat鈥� against school leaders and called on the Biden administration to clamp down on what it referred to as 鈥渄omestic terrorism.鈥� In a follow-up memo, Attorney General Merrick Garland instructed federal law enforcement to create a plan to combat a 鈥渄isturbing spike鈥� in threats against school board members. Republican lawmakers and conservative advocacy groups, meanwhile, have accused the Biden administration of stifling frustrated parents in violation of the First Amendment. 

The issue has highlighted a tension between ensuring school board members are safe while protecting the free-speech rights of aggrieved citizens.

Because of the Justice Department memo, parents are afraid to speak up at school board meetings due to a 鈥減oisonous chilling effect,鈥� Sen. Chuck Grassley, Republican of Iowa, said during a Senate hearing Wednesday. And while the national school boards group has since used in its letter, Garland didn鈥檛 back down on efforts to investigate what he called an increase in violent threats against educators and other public servants. 

As the Senate hearing was underway, activists held a rally outside the national school board group鈥檚 headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.

A spokesperson for the national school boards group declined to comment. Several state school boards groups, including the one in Pennsylvania, over the issue.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a rising tide of threats of violence against judges, against prosecutors, against secretaries of state, against election administrators, against doctors, against protesters, against news reporters,鈥� Garland said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the reason we responded as quickly as we did.鈥�

A 鈥榯rue threat?鈥�

The Constitution doesn鈥檛 guarantee 鈥渁 dialectical free-for-all,鈥� and the Supreme Court has long held that true threats of violence are not constitutionally protected speech, said Clay Calvert, the director of the Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project at the University of Florida. But the issue at hand, he said, isn鈥檛 鈥渂lack and white.鈥�

鈥淭here鈥檚 a difference between how we colloquially think of a threat versus the legal standards for what really is a threat, which are going to be much higher,鈥� he said. 

Parents have a First Amendment right to criticize government employees through offensive speech, he said, and officials must analyze on a case-by-case basis whether someone鈥檚 speech goes beyond protected dialogue.

鈥淎 true threat is a statement that would place a person in fear of imminent bodily harm or death,鈥� he said, but does not include 鈥減olitical hyperbole.鈥� In a 1969 case, the Supreme Court who was arrested after he said that if he were drafted into the Vietnam War and forced to carry a rifle, 鈥渢he first man I want to get in my sights鈥� is then-President Lyndon B. Johnson. The statement was crude political hyperbole rather than a true threat, the court ruled. The line between true threats and hyperbole, Calvert said, are not always clear and the Supreme Court has yet to offer a concrete definition. He said that police often err on the side of silencing speakers in the interest of public safety and debating the issue in court later.

Meanwhile, police departments are 鈥渁lways walking the tightrope鈥� when investigating whether someone鈥檚 statements go beyond those permitted by the Constitution, said attorney John Driscoll, a former New York City police officer who served 11 years as head of the NYPD Captains Endowment Association. Officers are in charge of preventing immediate threats and most departments employ legal experts who determine whether someone broke the law, he said.

鈥淵ou can voice your opinion, even if you鈥檙e the only one who thinks that way, but you don鈥檛 have the right to physically threaten and intimidate people,鈥� said Driscoll, who taught constitutional law at NYC鈥檚 John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He said the tense political environment has made it more difficult for officers to do their jobs. 鈥淏ecause of social media, the schism in the country has gotten a lot more extreme on both sides. There doesn鈥檛 seem to be too much moderation and police, as usual, are stuck in the middle trying to navigate this and protect people at the same time.”

But Toy-Dragoni, the Pennsylvania school board president, said the statements she鈥檚 faced reached the bar of being considered death threats and were clearly designed to incite intimidation. Among the messages, she was warned to 鈥渟leep with one eye open,鈥� and that 鈥渨e will never stop until you are done.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 a level of hate, it sets you on edge,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut did they straight up say 鈥楴ext week I鈥檓 going to kill you?鈥� No. But I鈥檝e never heard of anyone saying that to anyone ever, even when they do get killed by that person.鈥�

Threats reported nationwide

The messages delivered to Toy-Dragoni are part of a national trend. School board members have reported receiving threatening letters, being followed and screamed at in board meetings. 

After Las Vegas school district employees were mandated to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, the school board president saying she should be hanged or shot. In New Jersey, two board members in the mail with their photos in the crosshairs of a gun.

Sami Al-Abdrabbuh, chair of the Corvallis Board of Education in Oregon, also highlighted several incidents this year that he perceived as death threats. On the same day his campaign sign was discovered at a local shooting range with bullet holes, he said a man showed up outside his friend鈥檚 house and asked 鈥淲here is Sami? I want to kill him and I鈥檓 going to kill you if you don鈥檛 tell me where he is.鈥�

Local police were notified of the incident but have not arrested a suspect, Al-Abdrabbuh told 蜜桃影视, and a friend who served in the Navy helped him develop a safety plan.

鈥淢ake sure, before you leave the house, look from the window and make sure you can go to your car,鈥� he said. 鈥淏efore I enter my house I have a way to make sure nothing has been tampered.鈥�

Protests in other communities have grown so raucous that they prevented school boards from conducting official business. That energy and activism is being harnessed by conservatives and Republicans, particularly Virginia gubernatorial candidate Glen Youngkin, who has with Democrat Terry McAuliffe in next week鈥檚 election.

In , Calvert of the University of Florida called public comments at government functions like school board meetings 鈥減erhaps the purest form of citizen political expression鈥� 鈥� the precise speech the First Amendment sought to protect. The Constitution doesn鈥檛 enshrine a public platform before school boards and other public bodies and they can impose certain rules so long as they鈥檙e 鈥渃ontent neutral鈥� and apply to all speakers evenly. For example, 鈥渢ime, place and manner鈥� restrictions can limit how long speakers occupy the podium and can prohibit people from restricting government bodies from carrying out business. 

鈥淚nterrupting does nobody any good,鈥� Calvert said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the heckler鈥檚 veto notion that the audience should not have the ability to heckle or drown out the speaker.鈥�

During Wednesday鈥檚 Senate hearing, Republican lawmakers repeatedly noted a concern that the Justice Department memo could have a chilling effect on parents鈥� free-speech rights and that federal intervention was unnecessary. Those concerns mirrored a letter from 17 state attorneys general earlier this month, accusing the Biden administration of 鈥渟eeking to criminalize lawful dissent and intimidate parents into silence鈥� in violation of the First Amendment.

Garland maintained that his memo only focused on threats and violence and drew a clear distinction between such messages and constitutionally protected speech. 

鈥淚t makes absolutely clear in the first paragraph that spirited debate about policy matters is protected under our Constitution,鈥� he told lawmakers. 鈥淭hat includes debate by parents criticizing school boards.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

Education activist Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union, said it鈥檚 important for parents to remain engaged and they must not shy away from making themselves heard at school board meetings. In just the last six weeks, Rodrigues has attended a dozen school board meetings across the country where parents didn鈥檛 focus on mask mandates or critical race theory. Instead, she said they were concerned about unreliable school transportation and food shortages in cafeterias. Yet those voices, she said, are being drowned out by 鈥減eople who are behaving badly and who are exercising their anger in ways that are really unproductive.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

鈥淧arents have really deep, serious concerns about what is happening right now with our kids that have nothing to do with the culture war,鈥� she said. 鈥淧arents are showing up to have that conversation but it鈥檚 sexier to show white parents that are losing their minds at a microphone. It鈥檚 heartbreaking because we have real, serious and sober work to do to help our kids recover from this pandemic.”

For Toy-Dragoni, parent outrage during the pandemic forced her to reconsider her place in education policy. She said she sought her seat on the school board because she鈥檚 a mother who wanted to create additional afterschool activities in her community but will no longer serve on the board after this year. She decided not to run for reelection after the pandemic prompted parental uproar in her community. But now, after the situation has gotten even worse, she said she regrets the decision to step aside. 

鈥淗aving gone through all of this, I would have run again so that they wouldn鈥檛 feel like they ran me out of town,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his is 100 percent part of a national agenda to get decent people out of local office by making it absolutely miserable for them.鈥�

The El Paso Independent School District鈥檚 Board of Trustees late Tuesday voted 6-1 to follow Dr. Hector Ocaranza鈥檚 health order announced Monday requiring people 2 years and older to wear face coverings in most indoor settings, including schools. Masks will be required in EPISD buses and schools beginning Thursday.

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The motion approved by the EPISD board also committed the district to joining a pending lawsuit by La Joya Independent School District and others in Travis County challenging Gov. Greg Abbott鈥檚 ban on local mask mandates. Trustee Daniel Call cast the only dissenting vote on the motion to require masks and sue the governor.

The El Paso City Council voted 5-3 Monday to file a lawsuit against Abbott to protect Ocaranza’s mask mandate. On Tuesday, County Court-at-Law No. 7 Judge Ruben Morales issued a temporary restraining order finding that Abbott’s executive order barring mask mandates exceeded his authority, the city said in a news release.

After local judges in Bexar and Dallas counties issued similar rulings, the Texas Supreme Court earlier this week .

Call said the litigation before the state鈥檚 high court factored into this decision.

鈥淭he likelihood of a mask mandate standing up to scrutiny with the Texas Supreme Court is very small, so if there is a mask mandate it probably will not last very long,鈥� he said. 鈥淭o me, judicial activism is not something that I think a school district should be involved with.鈥�

But Trustee Israel Irrobali said decisions about what鈥檚 best at the local level shouldn鈥檛 come from lawmakers hundreds of miles away.

鈥淎t the end of the day, local control should be supreme and I believe that we should have the power in this situation to make that decision,鈥� said Irrobali, who has said he . 鈥淚t shouldn鈥檛 be left up to individuals in Austin that don鈥檛 know how it is in El Paso and have not been down here in quite a while.鈥�

About a half hour later, the Socorro Independent School Board of Trustees voted unanimously to follow Ocaranza鈥檚 mask mandate unless it was struck down by a court. The order from Ocaranza, who briefed the Socorro board Tuesday night on current COVID-19 data, takes effect at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.

Socorro trustees voted without comment after getting a closed-door briefing from their attorney, Steve Blanco, about current litigation and other legal issues regarding mask mandates.

The votes followed hours of public testimony before both school boards from a divided constituency whose members included parents who advocated for more protection for students amid an increase in the cases of the delta variant of COVID-19, and others who said masks were detrimental to the mental and physical wellbeing of their children.

The votes were another attack on Abbott鈥檚 statewide executive order issued late last month that stripped local governments and school boards from making decisions about their own jurisdictions. Several large districts, including Dallas Independent School District and the Austin Independent School District, have mandated masks and smaller districts in rural areas have followed .

This article originally appeared .

Often, a county line or a school district border can be the difference between whether mask-wearing is required or not.

A number of cities, counties and school districts in the past week have defied Gov. 鈥檚 executive order banning mask mandates and made mask-wearing mandatory in public schools in a bid to try to prevent the highly contagious delta variant from infecting schoolchildren too young to get vaccinated 鈥� and to keep hospitals from overflowing with COVID-19 patients.

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Dallas County had the most wide-ranging mask mandate in the state 鈥� covering public schools, colleges, businesses and many government buildings. In neighboring Tarrant County, the county doesn鈥檛 require mask-wearing anywhere.

Colleges in Travis County must require masks 鈥� but not two hours south in Bexar County. There, officials decided to keep the mandate just to K-12 鈥� a move intended to give state officials challenging the order in court fewer opportunities to strike it down.

鈥淲e restricted it because we didn鈥檛 want to overreach and have another reason [for the state] to knock down our order,鈥� Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said.

For Texans living in urban areas, another source of confusion over mask-wearing are the pingpong legal battles between Abbott and local officials. In some cases, a local mask mandate has been overturned by one court, only to be reinstated within hours by another.

For example, the Texas Supreme Court temporarily nixed mask mandates in Bexar and Dallas counties Sunday evening. Less than a day later, a lower court judge essentially reinstated the Bexar mandate for public schools 鈥� though not without acknowledging the confusion.

鈥淚 just wanted to apologize to all those parents, school administrators, the superheroes that we call teachers for what someone called the equivalent to a legal tug of war, unfortunately where our children are right in the middle,鈥� District Judge Antonia Arteaga said in making her ruling Monday afternoon.

After the Supreme Court ruling, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins insisted in a tweet that justices 鈥渄id not strike down my face mask order.鈥�

But the court made Jenkins鈥� order unenforceable by removing his ability to fine businesses that don鈥檛 comply, said Doug Alexander, a lawyer representing Jenkins.

鈥淲hat鈥檚 鈥榗ray cray鈥� about it is that everybody鈥檚 telling [Jenkins] he needs mask mandates to save lives in Dallas County,鈥� Alexander said. 鈥淔or reasons that I can鈥檛 fathom, the governor and the attorney general are hell-bent on tying the arms of all governmental entities from doing exactly what the physicians on the front lines are telling them they must do to stop the surging pandemic.鈥�

Amid the legal disarray, many school districts have walked back plans to require masks.

鈥嬧�婲ortheast Independent School District in San Antonio imposed a mask order after Bexar County officials convinced a judge to pause Abbott鈥檚 ban on mask mandates. But after Sunday鈥檚 Supreme Court ruling, the district scuttled its plans.

The same goes for Fort Bend ISD 鈥� another district that was set to require masks, but changed course in defiance of Fort Bend County Judge KP George鈥檚 mask order for the county, which includes public schools.

Some districts aren鈥檛 waiting for the state to challenge local mask orders to reverse course. In Travis County, Eanes Independent School District pulled back its mask mandate after the state Supreme Court decision 鈥� even though the decision didn鈥檛 apply to Travis County and the county mask mandate remains in effect.

鈥淲e will follow the law as it is determined by the highest court at the time in this legal chess match,鈥� the school district posted on Twitter.

Others have stuck with their mandates through the chaos. Dallas, Austin and San Antonio ISDs will continue to require masks despite the Supreme Court order.

In parts of the state where masking orders remain untouched by the legal crossfire, officials are weighing the possibility of expanding the mandate beyond schools and colleges.

Plenty of businesses in Austin have adopted their own masking requirements without a local mandate, Austin Mayor Steve Adler said. But he hasn鈥檛 ruled out mandating masks for private businesses if the number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals continues to rise 鈥� though Adler doesn鈥檛 relish the idea.

鈥淲e鈥檙e all just trying to keep people safe and to keep the economy open,鈥� he said.

Abbott has pushed back in recent days on the by cities, counties and school districts against his order 鈥� arguing in court that localities don鈥檛 have the authority to ignore his order and are creating undue confusion with local mandates. Texas is past the need for mask mandates, Abbott has said.

鈥淎ny confusion stems from local officials violating the governor鈥檚 executive order in their attempt to restrict the rights and freedoms of Texans,鈥� Abbott spokesperson Renae Eze said in a statement. 鈥淓very Texan has a right to choose for themselves and their children whether they will wear masks, open their businesses, or get vaccinated.鈥�

To Adler, it鈥檚 Abbott who鈥檚 creating the confusion.

鈥淚 think there鈥檚 huge confusion when the science and the doctors all say that we need to do everything we can to get people to mask and to get vaccinated 鈥� and our governor won鈥檛 make it happen and will stop local communities from doing what they can to make it happen,鈥� Adler said.

Joshua Fechter and Brian Lopez are reporters , the only member-supported, digital-first, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

Disclosure: Steve Adler, a former Texas Tribune board chair, has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune鈥檚 journalism. Find a complete list of them .

The ruling comes after several school districts and a handful of counties across the state defied Gov. 鈥檚 executive order that restricted local entities from instituting mask mandates. On Friday, the 4th Court of Appeals in San Antonio upheld a lower court ruling that permitted Bexar County to require mask-wearing in public schools. Shortly after, the 5th Court of Appeals in Dallas upheld a more far-reaching order from Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins that required masks in public schools, universities and businesses.

In a to the Texas Supreme Court, Texas Attorney General 鈥檚 office said the Texas Disaster Act of 1975 gives the governor power to act as the 鈥渃ommander in chief鈥� of the state鈥檚 response to a disaster. Attorneys representing cities and counties that have sued Abbott over his executive order have argued that his orders should not supersede local orders.

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鈥淟et this ruling serve as a reminder to all ISDs and Local officials that the Governor鈥檚 order stands,鈥� Paxton said after the ruling.

Abbott鈥檚 response to the decision was less pointed, specifying that his executive order does not prohibit mask-wearing.

鈥淎nyone who wants to wear a masks can do so,鈥� .

But some of the local officials who defied Abbott鈥檚 order said they鈥檒l continue to fight.

In a statement, the city of San Antonio said the Supreme Court鈥檚 decision 鈥渉as little practical effect鈥� since a lower court鈥檚 ruling granting the city temporary permission to issue a mask mandate will expire tomorrow. The city still plans to present its case in a Bexar County district court.

鈥淭he City of San Antonio and Bexar County鈥檚 response to the Texas Supreme Court continues to emphasize that the Governor cannot use his emergency powers to suspend laws that provide local entities the needed flexibility to act in an emergency,鈥� said City Attorney Andy Segovia.

Michael Hinojosa, superintendent of the Dallas Independent School District, announced Sunday evening that his district still plans to require masks when the school year begins for a majority of students on Monday, a Dallas ISD spokesperson said. Dallas County has a hearing Aug. 24 before a lower court that granted it permission to implement its mask mandate.

Jenkins, the county judge, that he expects the county to win in that hearing.

鈥淲e won鈥檛 stop working with parents, doctors, schools, business [and] others to protect you,鈥� Jenkins said.

Fueled by the highly contagious delta variant, hospitalizations have increased across the state at a pace quicker than at any other point during the pandemic. Less than half of the state鈥檚 population is fully vaccinated.

Jon Taylor, a political science professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said it was 鈥渁 long shot鈥� that the state Supreme Court would go against Abbott鈥檚 executive order.

鈥淭he Supreme Court in general, particularly with a Supreme Court that is 9-0 Republican at the moment, I think it was going to be difficult to see them going against the governor for something that is viewed as his legal right to do at this point,鈥� Taylor said.

Dale Carpenter, a law professor at Southern Methodist University, said the ruling means 鈥渢he writing is on the wall鈥� for other school districts and counties that have also approved mask requirements, and it鈥檚 likely Abbott and Paxton will repeat the same legal maneuvers they made with Dallas and Bexar counties.

Greg Casar, an Austin City Council member, that a mask requirement for Austin ISD is still in place despite the Supreme Court鈥檚 decision.

鈥淭his is about keeping our kids in school and out of the hospital,鈥� Casar said.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden hinted last week at the possibility of the federal government intervening in states that have banned mask mandates.

Recently, the released guidance recommending universal masking for students and school staff. With children younger than 12 not yet cleared to receive the vaccine, some teachers and parents in Texas have expressed worry that not instituting mask requirements could contribute to spread of the virus .

That led some of the largest school districts in the state 鈥� Austin ISD, Dallas ISD and Houston ISD 鈥� to require masks, despite Abbott鈥檚 order.

On Friday, a judge granted temporary permission to Harris County and several other Texas school districts to implement masks requirements. A judge in Tarrant County, meanwhile, granted a temporary order preventing Fort Worth ISD from requiring masks after four parents pursued a restraining order against the district, according to the .

Allyson Waller is a reporter , the only member-supported, digital-first, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

Disclosure: Southern Methodist University and the University of Texas at San Antonio have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune鈥檚 journalism. Find a complete .

Her 7-year-old son, Reid, had a liver transplant when he was 10 months old, leaving him immunosuppressed and more at risk for complications from COVID-19. Even before the pandemic, it was hard for Reid to fight off viruses.

Her other son, 11-year-old Reece, isn鈥檛 under the same predicament. But with COVID-19 surging once again, masking optional at his school and vaccines not available for children under 12, he runs the risk of passing the virus along to his brother. So Robertson is scrambling to find a safer option for her kids.

That scramble is being replicated across the state by school administrators, teachers and other parents. For the second straight school year, schools must worry about how to keep their staff and their children safe and ensure that they鈥檙e providing the best possible education during a pandemic that has killed more than 50,000 Texans. Complicating the matter this year: Gov. has banned mask mandates in schools and the state will not provide funding for remote learning.

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It鈥檚 still unclear when vaccines will be available for those under 12, but best-case scenarios suggest it could be late September or early October before they鈥檙e approved.

Worried parents across the state found some hope last week as big-city school districts such as Austin, Dallas, Houston, Fort Worth, San Antonio and other Bexar County schools opted to defy Abbott and require masking for everyone on campus.

Under Abbott鈥檚 executive order, districts or government entities can be fined $1,000, but it is unclear how this would apply to school districts. Abbott, along with Attorney General , made clear last week that they plan to take school districts to court if they don鈥檛 comply with his order.

And Paxton on Wednesday told Dallas radio host Mark Davis that Texas could go the route of Florida, where the GOP governor there, Ron DeSantis, has threatened to pull the funding of school districts that violate his ban on mask mandates. Paxton said the Texas Legislature would have to be involved, but he thinks there are 鈥渄efinitely avenues [Abbott] will look at 鈥� we鈥檒l look at with him 鈥� to enforce these laws.鈥�

In El Paso, where school started more than a week ago, Jewel Contreras sends her young daughters to school with masks, even though El Paso ISD is not requiring them.

鈥淭hat doesn’t really do anything because they come home and they鈥檙e not wearing masks,鈥� she said.

Contreras said her daughter’s dad is epileptic and if he gets sick it triggers seizures. If virtual learning was an option at El Paso ISD, they wouldn鈥檛 have to worry about the potential health risks. If cases keep rising, Contreras said she will consider pulling her daughters out and home schooling them.

For Robertson, the Sugar Land parent, the same concerns arise. Masking is optional at Lamar Consolidated Independent School District, and like many other school districts across the state, there is no virtual learning option.

Last spring, when the pandemic hit, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath issued a waiver allowing districts to receive full funding for virtual learning. That has since expired and a bill that would鈥檝e established and expanded virtual learning this fall died in the regular session after Texas House Democrats walked out to prevent passage of a GOP-backed bill that would outlaw local voting options, among several other changes to state elections.

During this month鈥檚 special legislative session, , another virtual learning bill similar to the one considered in the regular session, was approved by a committee in the Texas Senate. The bill allows for school districts and charter schools that received a C grade or higher in the most recent round of state accountability grades to offer remote learning to students. Under the bill, however, districts can鈥檛 have more than 10% of their student population enrolled online.

The measure has provisions to keep virtual learning in place until 2027, but several senators can鈥檛 get behind that. Sen. , D-Dallas, suggested the bill end in 2023, when the Legislature will meet again.

Sen. , R-Lubbock, also expressed concerns over the bill going beyond 2023.

鈥淚t seems to me that we are having a titanic shift in philosophy at some level over a crisis that we know is temporary,鈥� Perry said.

Either way, the future of the bill is uncertain. Democrats have not returned to the state House as they continue to protest the elections bill. Until enough of them return, the chamber can鈥檛 pass any legislation.

Bob Popinski, director of Raise Your Hand Texas, an education policy and research group, said his organization believes the best form of instruction is in person. But with coronavirus scrapping plans, the organization supports bills like SB 15 that allow school districts to create their own local virtual learning programs.

Some school districts have heard the cries of parents and will offer virtual learning at the cost of their budgets. Austin, Frisco, Round Rock, Leander, Pflugerville, Richardson, Lake Travis and Del Valle school districts are each offering some form of virtual learning, mostly for kids under the age of 12.

Round Rock Independent School District has more than 2,000 students signed up for virtual learning, according to spokesperson Jenny Caputo. That will cost the district between $8 million to $10 million per semester, depending on final figures.

While Round Rock ISD did receive funding from the federal government through both the CARES Act and American Rescue Plan, that won鈥檛 be enough to cover the costs because the district already had a deficit due to the shutdown of 2020.

鈥淲e’re just relying on our current budget on being able to find savings where we can,鈥� Caputo said. 鈥淗owever, you know this isn’t sustainable long term.鈥�

In Austin ISD, more than 7,000 families enrolled for the virtual option but only about 4,034 were accepted. Austin ISD spokesperson Eddie Villa said it will cost the district $10,100 per student, putting the bill at about $40.7 million. About 2,388 of those children are out of district. The district offered the option to out-of-district families because of limited virtual options during the latest coronavirus surge.

Villa said the district鈥檚 plan is to pay for that through the federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds, but that could change as the district looks at its finances.

Other districts offering virtual options will also look toward the federal money to pay for it. In Frisco, the school district has about 8,100 students choosing the virtual option, costing the district about $20 million.

Frisco officials, though, say they are going to use money that the state is giving them in discretionary ESSER funds. Frisco ISD is set to receive about $33 million.

鈥淚 won’t say that I didn’t lose sleep over proposing this option,鈥� said Mike Waldrip, Frisco ISD superintendent. 鈥淲e just felt compelled as a district to do this in response to the disease level and what we’re seeing in preliminary research that [the delta variant] may be affecting children differently and we’ve got this age group of children that don’t have vaccination as an option.鈥�

In rural communities, such as Caldwell ISD, virtual learning is not only a funding issue, but an accessibility one, said Superintendent Andrew Peters.

鈥淔ifty percent of my families are in poverty,鈥� Peters said. 鈥淭hey don’t have strong internet, they’re working off of a cellphone, you know, they don’t have a big 20-inch computer screen.鈥�

Peters said a lot of people in those families got laid off during the pandemic, and while they want their kids to do well in school, sometimes they’re more worried about what they鈥檙e going to eat rather than how their kid is doing on a computer screen.

鈥淚’m not opposed to [virtual learning],鈥� he said. 鈥淚 just don’t think that our society is built for that kind of learning environment.鈥�

During a Senate Education Committee hearing last week, senators especially expressed concerns over how recent STAAR test scores suggested that remote learning led to considerable learning loss for students over the last year and a half. Morath told senators that the percentage of kids excelling in virtual education is “very small鈥� and estimates that learning loss wiped out between 10 to 20 years of statewide educational gains.

In districts where fewer than a quarter of classes were held in person, the number of students who met math test expectations dropped by 32 percentage points, and the number of students who met reading expectations dropped by 9 percentage points compared to 2019, the last time the test was administered.

The learning loss was particularly exacerbated in Hispanic communities. Hispanic students in districts with over three-quarters of learning done remotely saw the largest drops compared with students in other demographic groups, with a 10-percentage-point decrease in the number of students meeting reading expectations and a 34-percentage-point decrease in those meeting math expectations.

But still, for parents like Robertson, virtual learning is the best alternative. She said at least if her children struggled, she was there to help them and still had the assurance that they were safe.

Her 11-year-old, Reece, will attend the Texas Connections Academy at Houston, a full-time virtual school that is part of the Texas Virtual School Network under the TEA. There are seven such schools and most teach grades between 3 to 12. Reid is in second grade, which isn鈥檛 offered.

One of the schools, iUniversity Prep serves grades 5 to 12, but has a cap on how many students it receives each year. Spokesperson Kaye Rogers said the cap sits at about 1,400 and they usually attract kids who are actors, elite athletes or have health issues. The school has seen more calls coming from parents with coronavirus concerns but they haven鈥檛 been swarmed by requests, she said.

The Texas Tribune contacted the six other online schools but did immediately get a response for an interview request.

For now, Robertson is waiting for LCISD to approve her homebound instruction request. Usually, homebound instruction is given to students that are confined to their home or a hospital. Students receive at least four hours of instruction per week and otherwise independently work on assignments.

Still, Robertson is wary of homebound instruction because that will mean someone outside her household has to come to her home and give that work to her child. Another option for parents is home schooling. The Texas Home School Coalition, which advocates for and provides resources to home schooling families, has reported that its call and email volume doubled to 1,016 during the last week of July, up from 536 the week before.

鈥淚n 2020 we saw the largest surge in home schooling in history. It appears that renewed concern about COVID-19 may be about to replicate a similar trend for 2021,鈥� THSC president Tim Lambert said in a statement.

Some teachers and parents are eager to return to classrooms. Stephanie Stoebe, a fourth grade teacher at Teravista Elementary School in Round Rock, said she isn鈥檛 worried about going back to school in person. She is vaccinated and takes the precautions necessary to be safe, she said.

She has cleaning protocols in place and will move desks apart. She also emphasized that families can send their children to schools with masks on. Policy is beyond her control, she said, but what she can do is be optimistic and give her students the best possible year.

鈥淚’m really excited,鈥� Stoebe said. 鈥淚t’s going to be a fantastic year.鈥�

At the end of the day, parents like Robertson will have to make the decision that is right for their children.

鈥淚’ve seen my child on a ventilator,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t’s really frightening 鈥� it changes you and I don’t want that for anybody’s child.鈥�

Brian Lopez is a reporter covering public education , the only member-supported, digital-first, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

Disclosure: Raise Your Hand Texas has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete .

Resistance is growing to Gov. ‘s May executive order that Texas schools can鈥檛 require masks, with an advocacy group suing to block the order and some of the state鈥檚 biggest districts issuing mask mandates anyway or indicating they want to.

Dallas Independent School District officials announced Monday morning that they will require students and teachers to wear masks on campus. Austin ISD鈥檚 superintendent also announced late Monday that , to KXAN-TV. Houston ISD Superintendent Millard House II has said he wants to issue a mandate, too, and a school board meeting for Texas鈥� biggest district to discuss the idea is scheduled for this week.

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On Tuesday, officials in Bexar County sued Abbott, seeking the power to impose a local mask mandate in their schools.

Meanwhile, the Southern Center for Child Advocacy, a nonprofit education group, filed a lawsuit Sunday night in Travis County against Abbott and his executive order prohibiting school districts, governmental bodies or any public or private entity that is receiving or will receive public funds from requiring masks.

In the absence of a statewide mask mandate, the group seeks to give the power to enforce mask wearing back to local school districts, said Hank Bostwick, volunteer center coordinator and lawyer.

Abbott鈥檚 order, issued in the spring when coronavirus cases were on the decline, limits school officials鈥� ability to respond to the pandemic, which at the moment is in the middle of what some health experts are calling a third wave. With the delta variant being more infectious, cases are on the rise and more children are being sent to hospitals.

Abbott stated earlier this month that he was past the point of issuing government mandates to slow the spread of COVID-19, even as the delta variant has cases and hospitalizations up across the nation. Instead, he said it is time for personal responsibility, which he emphasized when he took away the statewide mask mandate earlier this year.

鈥嬧�嬧�淕oing forward, in Texas, there will not be any government-imposed shutdowns or mask mandates,鈥� he said. 鈥淓veryone already knows what to do.鈥�

Texas State Teachers Association President Ovidia Molina said in a statement that she urges other school districts to join Dallas ISD in requiring masks and also called for Abbott to rescind his executive order.

鈥淲e agree with Dallas Superintendent Michael Hinojosa that it is within a school district鈥檚 discretion to take steps to ensure the health and safety of its students and employees,鈥� Molina said.

The lawsuit claims that Abbott is overeaching his authority and that his emergency powers should be used to take proactive steps and 鈥渘ot to advance an anti-mask political agenda that has no discernible basis in the data regarding the COVID-19 contagion rate.鈥�

鈥淭his is purely political gamesmanship, and has nothing to do with the health and safety of Texas children or their teachers,鈥� Bostwick said.

The lawsuit highlights that people of color are still lagging behind in vaccination rates and getting these families back in schools without proper protection makes them vulnerable to an increased rate of infection.

鈥淭he threat to the health and safety of Texas public school students and teachers is imminent and real,鈥� the lawsuit states.

The group also claims that the governor is in violation of Texas education code because children with disabilities 鈥渁re entitled to learn and interact with their non-disabled or typical peers in a safe and healthy educational environment.鈥� The order not allowing masks means some of these students may be unable to attend school in person if masking is not required, the lawsuit claims.

But as the school year begins, some schools are openly defying the governor鈥檚 order.

鈥淕overnor Abbott鈥檚 order does not limit the district鈥檚 rights as an employer and educational institution to establish reasonable and necessary safety rules for its staff and students,鈥� Dallas ISD said in a statement. 鈥淒allas ISD remains committed to the safety of our students and staff.鈥�

Renae Eze, a spokesperson for Abbott, said in a statement that only parents and guardians have the right to choose whether or not their children wear masks, otherwise it’s a violation of rights. The best way to combat coronavirus is getting vaccinated, she said.

“We are all working to protect Texas children and those most vulnerable among us, but violating the Governor鈥檚 executive orders鈥攁nd violating parental rights鈥攊s not the way to do it,” Eze said. “Governor Abbott has been clear that the time for mask mandates is over; now is the time for personal responsibility.”

At the moment though, children under 12 are not eligible for the vaccine and parents of that age group continue to worry.

House, the Houston superintendent, said last week that he expects pushback on his attempt to impose a mask mandate, but that 鈥渋f we have an opportunity to save one life, it鈥檚 what we should be doing.鈥�

Under Abbott鈥檚 order, entities that defy the governor are subject to a $1,000 fine, but it is unclear how this would apply to school districts.

The ongoing concern over safely returning to classrooms spurred over 100 Austin ISD families to form Safe Schools for All to advocate for local control. Member Mike Siegel, an Austin ISD parent of two kids under 12, said before the district鈥檚 that districts across the state need to form a coalition and fight back together to combat a potential legal battle or fines.

鈥淲hen people run for school board, they don鈥檛 think of themselves as preparing to go to war with the governor,鈥� Siegel said. 鈥淪o right now I just want to give a lot of support to our school board trustees.鈥�

Lana Hansen, mother of two Austin ISD students under 12, said she cannot wrap her head around why Abbott would take away school official鈥檚 power to protect their communities.

鈥淲e all know that what鈥檚 best for Austin isn鈥檛 best for Fredericksburg or Lubbock or Houston, like that鈥檚 why we have our own elected officials,鈥� Hansen said.

In Fort Worth, .

Concern over COVID-19 has flared over the past months as the delta variant has taken hold and last Thursday, the Texas Education Agency announced guidance that drew pushback from many parents and advocacy groups.

The TEA said Texas school districts will not be required to conduct contact tracing this year if a student contracts COVID-19. But the agency did allow for remote learning for up to 20 days for students who are sick with COVID-19 or have been exposed to it. If more time is needed, schools can apply for waivers.

Longer-term remote learning has largely been defunded after it was offered at the start of the pandemic, and efforts to allocate funding for it have so far failed in the Legislature this year.

Brian Lopez is a reporter covering public education , the only member-supported, digital-first, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

Disclosure: Texas State Teachers Association has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete .