School board leaders are initiating discussions with their attorneys about legal threats to Tulsa Public Schools and a possible legal challenge by the district related to Oklahoma’s new prohibition on school mask mandates.
A special meeting of the Tulsa school board has been set for 5 p.m. Wednesday. On tap is a vote on a resolution regarding COVID-19 safety measures and an executive session with the board’s attorneys.
Behind closed doors, the board is set to discuss two items:
• Pending claims and possible litigation against Tulsa Public Schools for not implementing a mask mandate.
• Pending claims and possible litigation by Tulsa Public Schools against the state of Oklahoma, Gov. Kevin Stitt, “and any other appropriate state officials” regarding restrictions imposed by Oklahoma Senate Bill 658.
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Nothing has been filed in court yet. The meeting agenda provides for the board to be able to vote if it wishes to authorize its attorneys to take “any actions regarding the matters discussed in executive session that are determined to be appropriate.”
“I’ve been hearing actively from parents every day who are asking us to do more to protect their students," board President Stacey Woolley said. "I feel it is incumbent upon us to do something.”
School board Vice President Suzanne Schreiber noted Tuesday evening that she has heard from about 100 parents who are concerned about the district’s inability to require masks as needed. Wednesday’s special meeting is needed to provide the board an opportunity to determine the best course of action, she said.
“Tulsa Public Schools has received notice of pending litigation against the district for not requiring masks,” Schreiber said. “At the same time, the TPS school board is interested in exploring options around implementing masks so that we can keep kids in school in person, because they worked so well last year.
"In order for kids to be able to stay in school, in person, they need to wear masks. That’s what is going to keep them well and keep their teachers and school staff well so they can be there to teach them and support them in the classroom.”
Schreiber continued: “The governor’s goal last year was for everyone to be in school. Our goals align this year, but we need the authority to have masks while it is necessary in order to achieve that.”
In late spring, the Oklahoma Legislature passed and Stitt signed into law Senate Bill 658, which bars school districts from imposing mask mandates unless the governor declares a public health emergency. But Stitt has said repeatedly that this is something he won’t do despite the most rapid COVID surge to date.
Similar measures by other states are not holding up well under early legal challenges.
On Tuesday, a Texas district judge ruled that San Antonio and Bexar County officials can temporarily issue mask mandates despite Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on them.
That Texas judge cited the start of the school year and public safety guidance issued by San Antonio’s Metropolitan Health District about the need for mask-wearing in public schools because of the much more contagious delta variant.
And on Friday, an Arkansas county circuit judge temporarily blocked the state from enforcing its ban on mask mandates. That state’s ban is being challenged by two lawsuits, including one by a school district where more than 900 employees and students are in quarantine because of a coronavirus outbreak.
Amid the controversy, the author of Oklahoma’s Senate Bill 658 issued a news release on Friday defending the new law here as a means of “protecting parental rights and the right to privacy” from the government.
“The bill in no way restricts a parent or citizen’s right to wear a mask or take a vaccine,” said Sen. Rob Standridge, R-Norman, in the written statement. “It simply protects the rights of parents and citizens to decide what is best for themselves and their children. I trust parents to determine what is best for their children, just as God has entrusted them.”
Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton contributed to this story.
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