In a March 28 ruling, the U.S. Northern District of Texas civil court dismissed the amended case of plaintiff Clint Long, individually and as Next Friend of C.L., against Jayton-Girard Independent School District alleging violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act (TOMA) and student C.L.’s constitutional rights.
The case, originally filed in May 2021 by attorney Warren V. Norred on behalf of the plaintiff and later amended, was dismissed with prejudice and cannot be addressed further, except on appeal to a higher court (for this district, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit); the Texas Open Meetings Act claim was dismissed without prejudice for lack of standing.
Long had claimed that the school prevented him and the student from entering the school building without a mask in March 2021 and that enforcement of a mandatory masking policy was unconstitutional. Long further claimed that the creation of a mask policy by a school committee that did not provide public notice of its meetings or meet in public violated TOMA provi sions. (See The Texas Spur’s earlier story, July 15, 2021).
Judge D. Gordon Bryant’s 30-page document dealt in detail with numerous issues raised by the case, citing precedents in similar school policy cases and also weighing questions of standing, remedies requested, and opportunities for plaintiff to cure pleading deficiencies in the original complaint.
JGISD superintendent Layne Sheets, who came into his post after the matter originally arose, said that he was “thankful for overwhelming support for us at the school” which “shows the faith that people have in our district in terms of how well our teachers, staff and school board handled things.”
The Texas Spur was not immediately able to reach plaintiff Long for comment.
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