Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt on Monday, filed suit against nine more school districts to halt their illegal mask mandate policies. This in addition to the 36 he filed on Friday. Districts that were sued include: Bayless, Jennings, Lexington, Kirkwood, Ritenour, Hancock Place, Special School District of St. Louis, Meramec Valley, and University City.

On Friday of last week, the Missouri Attorney General’s Office filed suit against 36 school districts to halt mask mandates, including: Francis Howell, Park Hill, Columbia, Fort Zumwalt, Lee’s Summit, Holden, Affton, Liberty, Jefferson City, St. Charles, Kansas City, Waynesville, Hazelwood, Raytown, Kingsville, Rockwood, Hickman Mills, Ladue, Center, Dunklin R-V, Independence, Lindbergh, Grandview, Fox C-6, North Kansas City, Ferguson-Florissant, Maplewood, Clayton, St. Louis City, Parkway, Brentwood, Valley Park, Pattonville, Webster Groves, Warrensburg, and Mehlville.

Schmitt argued in litigation filed on January 21 that individual school districts “do not have the authority to impose” public health orders on students. School districts “only have the power to issue those health rules that the General Assembly provides them,” according to the AG’s lawsuit against the districts.

“The General Assembly did not give school districts that authority to condition in-person attendance on compliance with an arbitrary mask mandate,” Schmitt said. 

“As we’ve made clear from the beginning, the power to make health decisions for their children should be in the hands of parents, not bureaucrats. Today I’m filing nine more lawsuits against school districts that are illegally enforcing mask mandates on school children,” said Attorney General Schmitt.

“Masking children all day in school is ineffective and these endless pandemic restrictions lead to lasting, negative psychological impacts on children and teens. This is a fight worth fighting, and I’m not going to back down.”

The total number of active lawsuits against school districts illegally enforcing mask mandates filed by the Attorney General’s Office is 45.

Attorney General Schmitt said in a Tweet on Monday: The U.S. is an outlier for the anti-science of kids. The 40+ school districts we’ve already sued in Missouri are outliers as well. 90% of Missouri school districts allow families to make these decisions. The corporate media in Missouri won’t tell you that. It’s all about fear. #NoMaskMandates.Â