SPRINGFIELD – The Springfield school board faces a lawsuit over plans to offer classroom instruction only two days a week this upcoming school year, with the balance being met through online schooling.
Kristi Fulnecky, an attorney running for mayor of Springfield, told the Springfield News-Leader that three of her clients intend to sue Springfield Public Schools (SPS) over the plan. She believes a choice of virtual learning or five-days a week in-class learning would be better, the newspaper reported.
Online learning is not suitable for many students with disabilities and violates the Civil Rights Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, Fulnecky added.
SPS Legal Counsel Ransom Ellis, III
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The Springfield school system disagrees.
“With the current level of increased COVID-19 exposure in our community, the district has made the wise decision to reduce the number of people within school buildings to allow for appropriate social distancing when school resumes on Aug. 24,” Springfield public schools legal counsel Ransom Ellis, III, a partner at Ellis, Ellis, Hammons & Johnson, P.C., told the St. Louis Record. “In addition, SPS will appropriately require masking for all students and staff and implement increased cleaning protocols.”
Ellis said the school system is offering “as much choice to students and parents as possible” and will re-evaluate the number of in-person days at the end of the first quarter.
“The decision will be based on health data that tracks the local progression of the pandemic and its effect on the school environment,” Ellis said. “The legal action announced today does not provide practical solutions to address the unique and significant challenges faced by the school district and the community. It is an unfortunate distraction, without legal merit, during a difficult time for everyone.”
One of the plaintiffs, Stoney McCleery, compared the lawsuit to the Biblical story of David and Goliath.
"We don't have a choice," McCleery said of the lawsuit. "Springfield Public Schools has made up its mind. They're not listening to us."
Fulnecky also filed a lawsuit challenging Springfield’s masking ordinance.