DeWitt father and attorney Adam Holland filed a lawsuit against DeWitt Public Schools for its mask mandate late last year after his fifth-grade son was disciplined for lowering his mask below his nose.
On Monday, Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Clinton Canady III dismissed the case.
Canady wrote in his decision that Holland "failed to show that he is likely to succeed upon the merits of this case."
"The board and I are really happy with the judge's decision," DeWitt Superintendent Shanna Spickard said.
Earlier this year, Spickard said mask requirements in the district would be dependent on COVID-19 transmission levels. Right now, a mask requirement is in place.
Holland said he was challenging how that decision came to be, because the school board was not involved.
"It's certainly disappointing that all this time, all this effort, in the third school year that we have in this pandemic, that a court found it appropriate for a district to cut parents and the public out of this enormous, weighty and divisive policy, and allowed for the superintendent to implement it unilaterally," Holland said.
Canady wrote in his decision that Holland failed to show "where a superintendent is required to report all of his/her actions to the board for such actions to be legitimate." Canady continued, "The courts, at both state and federal level, have long deferred to the academic institutions on how to best manage themselves."
"The executive orders last year to this year, people are really confused on who's in charge of what, so I think that it was a great decision," Spickard said.
"I think there's potential for far reaching consequences from the decision, and that is future divisive and huge, enormous policies like this could be issued without parental involvement, without the school board's approval, because of a decision like this," Holland said.
So, what now?
"Obviously being new to the community, there's not that social capital," Spickard said. "So, I'm hoping that we can continue to work together and build trust and really move forward."
"Well at this point, I can ask the court to reconsider its own decision, which is usually a futile effort," Holland said. "But, it's part of the process. So, that would probably be the first step. And, you know, I would certainly consider an appeal."
Holland said though he would consider an appeal, given the time-frame, he doesn't think an appeal would really get the result intended, which was to have the board weigh in.
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