Clay County, Mo. – Today, the Northland Parent Association filed an expedited motion in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri to prevent enforcement of the new mask mandate passed by the City Council of Kansas City that applies only to schools and school buses.
The revised mandate comes when health officials acknowledge that COVID cases are declining and the indoor order for adults has been lifted. The Northland Parent Association’s motion asks the court to consider the unlawfulness of Kansas City’s new mask mandate along with the Association’s pending preliminary-injunction motion. The new mandate is arbitrary and not based on sufficient evidence, violates constitutional rights, and fails to provide for individual religious exemptions. The new rule robs parents of their authority over their children’s health and wellbeing and gives that authority to the local government.
“Masking healthy and resilient children implies that the blame for transmitting the virus to vulnerable populations falls heavily on their young shoulders,” said Jay Richardson, President of the Northland Parent Association. “To make matters worse, the Council ‘masked’ its plans for the mandate from parents by holding private meetings with school officials and quietly advancing it through the Transportation Committee yesterday, and bringing it to the full council for a vote today.”
The Northland Parent Association applauds First District Councilwoman Heather Hall and Third District-at-Large Councilman Brandon Ellington for opposing the mandate. They each raised concerns over the enforceability of the mandate because it isn’t based on science and requires the school districts to enforce Kansas City’s mandate, even though many of the school districts’ boundaries cross into other cities.
“The Northland Parent Association will continue to defend the bodily autonomy of our children, our parental rights, and we will never cede our health care freedom to government officials colluding with school superintendents,” said Northland Parent Association President Natalie Scholl. “We will never accept the deterioration of our rights at the hands of those who should be representing us.”
The Northland Parent Association is represented in the lawsuit by attorney Kevin Corlew, the principal attorney and founding member of PathGuide Law.
Visit the Northland Parent Association webpage for more information.
