Missouri school districts are warned that a spike in legal costs as a result of lawsuits filed by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt over mask rules in 45 districts could have a financial impact on hundreds of districts statewide which have not been taken to court.
The Missouri United School Insurance Council (MUSIC) is a member-owned, self-insured risk management pool providing property, liability and workers' compensation insurance for its members. Executive Director Mark Stockwell told the St. Louis Record that members include 90% of the state’s school districts and an overwhelming majority of impacted districts are MUSIC members.
“My understanding is that the recent suits filed by the attorney general are seeking injunctive relief, which triggers up to $30,000 in legal defense funding per suit from MUSIC,” Stockwell said. “Any cost over that limit will be funded directly by the member.”
The amount under the limit, he said, is funded indirectly by all members, with legal fees paid from the program’s loss fund that will need to be replenished in future years.
“The reality is that taxpayers are funding the AG’s legal fees and the schools’ defense costs,” Stockwell said.
Schmitt filed suit against a majority of the districts on Jan. 21, with an additional nine added Jan. 24. More than half of the districts are in the greater St. Louis area.
While a Jan. 31 release announced Schmitt’s office had begun filing motions for temporary restraining orders in his lawsuits, Schmitt said the fight against mask mandates will continue until the power to make health decisions is placed back in the hands of the parents.
The motions ask each court to issue a temporary restraining order and to halt the mask mandate at each respective school, the release states.