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The suits, filed against St. Louis-area districts including Affton, Brentwood, Clayton, Fort Zumwalt, Fox, Francis Howell, Hazelwood, Ladue, Parkway, Pattonville, Maplewood Richmond Heights, St. Charles, St. Louis Public Schools, and Webster Groves, come as the state is battling a wave of coronavirus infections, straining health systems.

The lawsuits, copies of which were tweeted out by Schmitt’s office throughout the day Friday, were filed in the name of parents in most cases, ranging from one named parent in several districts to 20 in the Rockwood School District.

In lawsuits against several districts, no parents were listed.

School systems have reported waves of absences among students, teachers and other staff in recent weeks, forcing administrators to scramble to fill vacancies and some individual schools to go back to virtual schooling.

Pattonville made effective Jan. 3 unless an individual school’s positivity rate reaches 2% of teachers and staff. All schools quickly reached that threshold. The at six schools there have since declined.

Paul Ziegler, CEO of EducationPlus, a nonprofit representing 60 St. Louis-area school districts, in a statement called the lawsuits “a distraction to school leaders� trying to keep schools open and students safe.

Ziegler said the policies implemented by the districts were developed after many months of analyzing community transmission data and taking into consideration the capacity issues at area hospitals. The districts also consulted with infectious disease doctors from Washington University, St. Louis University and Children’s Hospital, Ziegler said.

“These lawsuits are a waste of taxpayer dollars as the Attorney General is using public funds to sue public schools who will be required to use taxpayer dollars to defend their policies,� Ziegler said.

Spokespersons for several districts declined to comment.

The lawsuits argue that districts don’t have the power to issue mask mandates, adding “the General Assembly did not give school districts the authority to condition in-person attendance on compliance with an arbitrary mask mandate.�

School districts and the Missouri School Boards’ Association rejected that claim last month, citing state statutes that they say allow them to do so.

Ziegler echoed that on Friday, citing Missouri statutes that require school boards to address the transmission of communicable diseases in schools and maintain a safe school environment.

“I don’t see how he is going to be successful,� said Cindy Ormsby, a lawyer who represents multiple school districts, in an interview Friday about Schmitt’s suits.

Ormsby sent a letter on behalf of the Hazelwood School District to Schmitt last month, saying he had no authority to issue a “cease and desist� letter. Ormsby’s letter also cites state statutes and a 1909 Missouri Supreme Court decision that said school boards had the right to pass rules to address the possibility of a smallpox epidemic.

Schmitt, who is running for the U.S. Senate, had sent the letters to school districts and health officials, telling them to end all COVID-19 health orders and citing a Cole County judge’s ruling calling local health orders invalid.

He also called for parents to report districts with mask rules to his office.

Schmitt’s lawsuits say the “theory� that mask rules help prevent the transmission of COVID-19 have “no empirical or rational basis� and reject “basic principles of sound public health decision-making, medical science, and statistical analysis.�

Medical studies have repeatedly found otherwise, however, and health officials have recommended masks as one of the ways to slow the spread of the pandemic.

Asked for Schmitt’s suggestion for a replacement for mask mandates or other pandemic control measures in schools, spokesman Chris Nuelle said in an email that “the lawsuits are about returning the decision back to the parents. Parents and families should be able to decide whether or not to send their child to school in a mask or vaccinate their children. We’ve heard from quite a few parents who simply want to gather the information and make a decision for themselves.�

Chuck Hatfield, a Jefferson City attorney and former chief of staff in the attorney general’s office, called the lawsuits “uncharted territory.� He questioned Schmitt’s standing to file the suits when no parents are listed on the lawsuit.

Hatfield also asked whether it is appropriate for the attorney general to sue “a bunch of local governments.�

“That’s not what attorney generals historically have done,� Hatfield said.

Blythe Bernhard of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.