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CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - A group of Charleston County School District parents and teachers are suing the city, school district, trustees and an individual school over mask mandates.
The plaintiffs in the suit include the parents of a student at Wando High School, the parents of a student at an unnamed Charleston County school and a teacher at East Cooper Montessori Charter School.
They are suing the City of Charleston, the Charleston County School District, the Charleston County School District board of trustees and the East Cooper Montessori Charter School.
The suit states Wando parents John and Monica Cooke and Charleston County School District parents Gregory and Megan Montieth say their children have not been allowed to attend school in-person because they refuse to enter the building wearing a mask or quarantine without getting vaccinated.
East Cooper Montessori Charter School teacher Gabrielle Sloan is facing termination at the school for refusing to get vaccinated or wear a mask, the suit states.
The group of plaintiffs are seeking to hold the county, city, school and board in contempt of court for allegedly violating South Carolina law. The suit alleges that by attempting to use state funds to force masks and vaccines on their public school children and teachers, the defendants are breaking the law.
The suit alleges that every child deserves an education under South Carolina law, and by refusing to let the unmasked or unvaccinated students come to in-person class, the school district is breaking the law.
In the lawsuit, the group cites South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson’s Sept. 2 decision that “public school districts are not permitted to enforce mask mandates on children without parental consent.” They say South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster’s ‘Mask mandate Prohibition prevents school districts, or any of its schools, from using any funds to require its students or employees wear a facemask.
Alan Wilson’s actions are against President Joe Biden’s recently announced COVID-19 action plan for vaccinations in the workplace, state education officials said Tuesday.
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