BERRIEN COUNTY PARENTS FOR SCHOOL FREEDOMS FILES THREE LAWSUITS – LAKESHORE, ST. JOSEPH & WATERVLIET SCHOOL DISTRICTS

By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
ST. JOSEPH – The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have an impact on life in Southwest Michigan, from county and local governments deciding how to spend American Rescue Plan Act funds to citizens filing lawsuits over health department and school district actions.
Last week, the Berrien County Parents for School Freedoms organization announced they had filed suit against three Berrien County school districts over their pandemic related actions. The parents group is suing Lakeshore, St. Joseph and Watervliet school districts, their superintendents and their boards of education.
A press release from Berrien County Parents for School Freedoms (BCP) lawyers contend Berrien County School Districts do not have statutory authority to enforce masking or quarantine policies. They believe that state law doesn’t give local school districts the right to implement masking and quarantine policies.
Lawyers for Berrien County Parents for School Freedom have determined that state law provides that parents have a fundamental right to control the care and education of their children. Moreover, the masking and quarantine policies implemented by Berrien County School Districts derive from MCL 380.11a amount to an unconstitutional delegation of power under the Michigan Constitution.
The lawsuit incorporates and relies on some aspects of the recent ruling by Honorable Judge Colin Hunter of the 46th Circuit Court in Otsego County in the matter of Iron Pig Smokehouse vs Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
Background and context provided by the organization pointed to actions taken by the Berrien County Health Department on September 1, 2021, to issue a Public Health Order (PHO) requiring nearly all individuals in K-12 educational settings to wear face masks. That order was rescinded Sept. 29 after action by the state legislature.
Parents in response worked tirelessly to restore their constitutional freedom and expose this executive overreach by educating themselves, investigating the facts, and engaging with local leaders at all levels of government.
Information obtained through the Freedom of Information Act uncovered what the group says were secret meetings between the health department and local school districts to discuss how school districts could enforce universal mask and quarantine restrictions without an active public health order.
These revelations prompted BCP to engage with the Berrien County Board of Commissioners to request that the BCHD officially clarify their policies, which they did on January 13, 2022 in a joint presentation made by Berrien RESA Superintendent Eric Hoppstock and BCHD Interim Health Officer, Guy Miller.
During the presentation, Berrien RESA asserted that state law provides a legal basis for school districts to implement both mask and quarantine policies. RESA and health department officials agreed that Berrien County School Districts were enforcing both masking and quarantine policies independent of any obligations, orders, laws, or rules originating from the BCHD.
“The members of BCP would like to thank the parents, students, and teachers of Berrien County Schools for their quiet support, encouragement, and patience as we struggle together to reverse these illegal masking policies and restore the rule of law,” the press release concluded.
“We would also like to thank the Berrien County Commissioners for their help in clarifying that current BCHD masking and quarantine guidance is not part of any lawful order currently issued by BCHD.”
Meanwhile, Berrien County Commissioners took action last week to provide a way for local governments to apply to get a share of the $30 million in ARPA funding the county is getting.
While county officials had talked the week before about sharing some of the county money with local governments on a variety of projects, Berrien County Community Development Director Dan Fette spoke last week primarily about rural broadband projects.
“You’re currently debating how to use your funds and our sense is that expanding broadband is a high priority,” Fette said. “We suggest that you circulate the applications specifically for broadband then send out additional applications for other projects.”
County Administrator Brian Dissette said he knows of one township ready to submit an application once the form is available. He suspects that the county will have to lend a helping hand to some rural townships that don’t have the staff to complete an application on its own or to follow all the subsequent project requirements.
He and Fette emphasized the importance of acting to fund broadband projects now while companies are already in place to start working. They said getting rural broadband funding from the separate infrastructure bill approved late last year could be years away.
“We’re trying to create a little bit of momentum for local governments when it comes to broadband,” Dissette said. “We’re moving forward with broadband because we have townships interested and companies already working on it this year.”
Fette said county staff are working on related items such as establishing a review panel to score applications and providing guidance to municipalities getting funding so they can complete all the required paperwork and monitoring.
As for other possible ways to spend the county’s ARPA funding, Fette said the county could easily set aside as much as $20 million to $22 million to cover its own pandemic lost revenue.
Last week’s county board meeting also featured a report on the status of the Berrien Bus transportation service. Fette reported that the Berrien Bus program which is now being operated by Berrien RESA is currently on sound financial footing after a rocky couple of years caused by the pandemic and the closing of the company that had run it.
Commissioners approved a resolution of intent to apply for state funding later this year. The 2023 budget calls for $955,322 in revenue and $915.000 in expenditures.
Other resolutions approved included applying for a marine safety grant application, extending an agreement with Kalamazoo County for Household Hazardous Waste Collection for another year, accept coronavirus funds for the trial court and allowing the village of Eau Claire to annex two properties into the village.