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Schmitt, a Republican running for U.S. Senate, said in a news release Monday afternoon his office was now suing Bayless, Hancock Place, Jennings, Lexington, Kirkwood, Ritenour, Special School District of St. Louis County, Meramec Valley and University City.

At least two local school districts with masking rules — Normandy and Riverview Gardens — still had yet to be sued on Monday. Schmitt also had yet to file any lawsuits against charter schools with masking rules.

The new lawsuits were in addition to 36 lawsuits filed last week, including at least 19 that targeted districts in the St. Louis region.

Announcement of the new lawsuits followed the Post-Dispatch asking Schmitt’s office Monday morning why Bayless, Hancock Place, Jennings, Kirkwood, Normandy, Ritenour, Riverview Gardens, Special School District and University City were left off Friday’s list.

“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,� Schmitt said in a statement.

Schools seek meeting

As Schmitt cranked up the pressure, the leader of the Missouri School Boards’ Association was asking for a meeting with the state’s top lawyer.

But Chris Nuelle, spokesman for Schmitt, indicated the attorney general would not be meeting with the organization.

“The Attorney General doesn’t represent the MSBA; he represents the people of Missouri,� Nuelle said.

Nuelle pointed to a letter by the National School Boards’ Association to counter threats and aggressive acts against school board members, comparing such actions “to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes.�

The Missouri School Boards’ Association quit its parent organization after the letter, in October.

Melissa Randol, executive director of the Missouri School Boards’ Association, said Monday schools are focused on staying open through the pandemic.

But she said 62 districts and counting have had to close for at least one day this month, a “direct result of the number of staff, particularly teachers, who have been sick with COVID.�

“We don’t have sufficient substitutes, we don’t have sufficient staff to keep our doors open,� she said.

“We need help in solving this problem,� Randol said. “We don’t like masks, we don’t like to quarantine, but what we hate more than those options are closing our schools.

“We’re looking for anything, any way we can help mitigate the spread of this,� Randol said. She said districts have made decisions based on the advice of health professionals, “and we have been told that it (masking) does provide some assistance.

“If they’d prefer to help us meet the needs of our children, I beg them to come to the table and identify solutions that will allow us to mitigate the spread of COVID,� Randol said. “I’d love to meet with Mr. Schmitt and others.

“It doesn’t help anyone when schools are forced to spend their resources in courtrooms on lawsuits,� she said.

Nuelle, asked why Schmitt hadn’t sued charter schools, said Monday the attorney general’s office was “evaluating our legal options on mask mandates in charter schools.� He also addressed dozens of private schools with mask mandates, saying, “our legal jurisdiction specifically relates to public institutions.�

Most teachers and students in the St. Louis area continued to wear masks this week, defying a cease-and-desist letter Schmitt sent last month as well as his lawsuits last week.

‘Deeply disappointed’

The City of St. Charles School District responded to Schmitt’s lawsuit on Monday, saying it was “deeply disappointed� and that the “cynical action is a waste of taxpayer dollars and serves to undermine the authority of local, publicly elected officials and, thus, the will of the people.�

Parents in favor of masking were mobilizing against the attorney general’s lawsuits on Monday.

An email circulated to Maplewood-Richmond Heights parents said parents may file complaints with the Missouri Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel, which handles attorney discipline, against Schmitt and other lawyers involved in the lawsuits, and provided contact information for local school board members as well as Schmitt, Gov. Mike Parson and state legislators.

Another flyer being shared on Facebook repeats similar information.

At the Capitol, House Minority Leader , D-Springfield, said Democrats were eyeing legislation aimed at requiring the state to reimburse local districts for legal costs incurred defending themselves against Schmitt’s “frivolous� lawsuits.

“Every dollar matters in public education, and local schools cannot afford to burn resources fighting vanity litigation primarily aimed at propping up one man’s failing U.S. Senate campaign,� Quade said.

“Whatever happened to Republicans believing in local control?� asked former state Sen. Scott Sifton, D-south St. Louis County, who is also running for U.S. Senate. “School mask mandates are both legal and an important means of protecting children and families from COVID-19.�

A spokeswoman for Parson, a Republican, did not respond to a request for comment on Schmitt’s legal offensive.

Tipsters turned plaintiffs

The lawsuits appear to have been aided by messages sent to an attorney general’s office tip line last month.

Several parents who sent in tips ended up as plaintiffs in lawsuits his office filed on Friday, according to records reviewed by the Post-Dispatch in response to an open records request.

“The email account was set up to hear directly from parents about which school districts were continuing to enforce mask mandates so we could take legal action,� Nuelle said.

Hayley Walton, who frequently speaks at St. Louis County Council meetings against COVID-19 restrictions, is the only plaintiff besides the state in Schmitt’s lawsuit against the Pattonville School District.

She emailed “illegalmandates@ago.mo.gov� on Dec. 8.

Naomi Shuldberg emailed Schmitt’s tip line that same day. She is one of the plaintiffs named in a lawsuit against the Rockwood School District.

“My daughter hates masks so much, but still wanted to stay at school so she chose to go to the library to learn for the day,� Shuldberg wrote.

Amanda Hamlin, who is named in a lawsuit against the Columbia Public Schools, also emailed Schmitt’s tip line on Dec. 8.

“My Children have been denied Entry at school for refusal to wear masks,� Hamlin said.

Susannah Newman, named in the lawsuit against the Webster Groves School District, also emailed the tip line.

“Webster Groves is continuing to mandate masks and it doesn’t look like they’ll be stopping anytime soon,� she said.

Kalea Blouin wrote she was the mother of three in Waynesville schools; she’s a plaintiff in the state’s lawsuit against that district.

Many people who wrote in to Schmitt’s office voiced support for mask rules.

“If masks are ineffective at stopping the spread of disease, why do all medical personnel wear them during surgeries?� asked Nancy Moen. “Is it time to go after hospitals for their mask policies, too, Eric? More waste of my tax dollars.�

Originally posted at 5:20 p.m. Monday, Jan. 24.