A judge has denied attorney Kristi Fulnecky's request for a temporary restraining order against Springfield Public Schools' re-entry plan, an attempt to force the district to offer in-person learning five days a week.
Fulnecky, representing three Springfield parents, sued the district in late July because its re-entry plan offered parents just two options: full-time virtual learning or a hybrid model with two days in-person and three days virtual.
The district has since tweaked the plan to offer a four-day in-person option for students in preschool and select students with "significant disabilities."
In an interview with the News-Leader, Fulnecky signaled support for offering parents a full-time virtual or in-person option five days a week.
Ransom Ellis III, an attorney representing Springfield Public Schools, said the decision does not end the lawsuit. He argued it "validated the district's school re-entry plan."
"The district’s plan is primarily designed to help protect health and safety during the ongoing COVID-19 health crisis and to provide education options for students and their parents," he said, in a news release.
Ellis noted, in the statement, that the district has modified its July 23 plan to provide in-person on more days for certain students.
He said the district's re-entry plan was developed with "significant feedback" from staff, parents, administrators and the Springfield-Greene County Health Department.
"The extraordinary circumstances posed by COVID-19 require the district to continue to
adapt service delivery to limit the risk of potential exposure," Ellis said, in the statement. "Today’s decision affirms these necessary actions. From the beginning, SPS has been clear that its plans are flexible and will be refined as the public health emergency continues to evolve."
In the suit and a press conference, Fulnecky alleged, among other things, that the district's plan violated the Missouri and U.S. constitutions, the Civil Rights Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The lawsuit was filed against Superintendent John Jungmann and the seven members of the school board: Denise Fredrick, Gerry Lee, Alina Lehnert, Jill Patterson, Charles Taylor, Shurita Thomas-Tate and Bruce Renner,
The parents who sued the district included Kristina Borishkevich, Erica Sweeney and Stoney McCleery.
Claudette Riley is the education reporter for the News-Leader. Email news tips to criley@news-leader.com and consider supporting vital local journalism by subscribing. Learn more by visiting News-Leader.com/subscribe.
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Judge denies Fulnecky's request to halt Springfield district's re-entry plan - News-Leader
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