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ELECTRONICALLY FILED
2/3/2022 6:37 PM
47-CV-2022-900143.00
CIRCUIT COURT OF
MADISON COUNTY, ALABAMA
DEBRA KIZER, CLERK

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF MADISON COUNTY, ALABAMA

SHEMA RIZO, by and as next friend of her )

children, J.R., S.R., G.R., )
)
WILLIAM and SARA PARKER, by and as )
next friend of their children, T.P., A.P., )
)
MIKE and CARRIE GILES, by and as next )
friend of their children, A.G., D.G., )
)
PAUL and MICHELLE LAMBERTSON, by )
and as next friend of their children, M.L., B.L., )
)
JOSEPH and ASHLEY DENNIS, by and as )
next friend of their children, J.D., J.D., H.D., C.D., )
)
DESIREE ROSCH, by and as next friend of )
her children, A.R., D.R., )
)
ERIK and MICHELE SPLAWN, by and as )
next friend of their child, P.S., )
)
THERESA MILLER, by and as next friend of )
her children, A.M., A.M., )
)
RICHARD and CANDIDA ANDREWS, by and )
as next friend of their children, N.A., A.A., )
)
Plaintiffs, )
v. ) Case No. ___________________
)
DR. EDWIN C. NICHOLS, JR., Superintendent of )
Madison City Schools, in his official capacity, )
)
TRAVIS COMMINGS, LUIS FERRER, TIM )
HOLTCAMP, GREG HULSEY, ALICE )
LESSMAN, Madison City Board of Education, )
in their official capacities, and )
)
Defendants. )

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COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF

Come now the Plaintiffs, SHEMA RIZO, as next friend and on behalf of her

children, J.R., S.R., G.R.; WILLIAM and SARA PARKER, by and as next friend of their

children, T.P., A.P.; MIKE and CARRIE GILES, by and as next friend of their children,

A.G., D.G.; PAUL and MICHELLE LAMBERTSON, by and as next friend of their

children, M.L., B.L.; JOSEPH and ASHLEY DENNIS, by and as next friend of their

children, J.D., J.D., H.D., C.D.; DESIREE ROSCH, by and as next friend of her children,

A.R., D.R.; ERIK and MICHELE SPLAWN, by and as next friend of their child, P.S.;

THERESA MILLER, by and as next friend of her children, A.M., A.M.; and RICHARD

and CANDICE ANDREWS, by and as next friend of their children, N.A., A.A., pursuant

to the Alabama Declaratory Judgment Act, Alabama Code §6-6-220, et seq., and

respectfully request this Honorable Court to declare, adjudge and decree that the face

mask mandate (described infra) issued by Defendants DR. ED NICHOLS, JR.,

Superintendent, and TRAVIS CUMMINGS, LUIS JAVIER FERRER, TIM

HOLTCAMP, GREG HULSEY, ALICE LESSMANN, Madison City Schools (MCS)

Board of Education, applicable to students enrolled in Madison City Schools, is without

force and effect, is void and imposes on the Plaintiffs and their children no requirement

that they wear at all times or any time face masks while attending Madison City Schools.

In support of this complaint, the Plaintiffs allege and aver as follows:

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Parties, Jurisdiction and Venue.

1. All Plaintiffs herein are citizens and residents of Madison County, Alabama, live

in the municipality of Madison, Alabama, and have their children enrolled in Madison

City Schools.

2. Defendant DR. EDWIN C. NICHOLS, JR., is the superintendent of the Madison

City Schools and chief executive officer of the city Board of Education and he

implemented, on August 2, 2021, a mandate that students enrolled in Madison City

Schools wear face masks while present in City of Madison public schools.

3. Defendants TRAVIS CUMMINGS, LUIS JAVIER FERER, TIM HOLTCAMP,

GREG HULSEY, and ALICE LESSMAN are members of the Madison City Schools

(MCS) Board of Education.

4. Jurisdiction and venue for this case is proper in the Circuit Court of Madison

County because all parties hereto live and work in Madison County, and the events

described in this complaint occurred and continue to occur in Madison County, Alabama.

Relevant Facts.

5. Prior to August 2, 2021, the children of all of the Plaintiffs were enrolled in

schools operated by Madison City Schools, an instrumentality of the municipality of

Madison, Alabama.

6. Prior thereto, many of the Plaintiffs had engaged in studies regarding the

benefits, risks and harms caused by the wearing of face masks by school age children, and

had concluded that face masks do not protect children against the transmission of

COVID-19, and were in fact harmful to children who wore them. As a result, many of the
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Plaintiffs became determined to oppose any face mask mandate if the same was imposed

on students enrolled in Madison City Schools.

7. On or about August 2, 2021, Defendant NICHOLS, via a document titled

Madison City Schools Revised Reentry Plan, imposed a requirement that students

attending Madison City Schools wear at all times face masks while so attending its

schools: “Therefore, with this new information, I am going to mandate masks at this time

for all students and staff in the Madison City School District when they are inside school

buildings effective August 4. I believe that this is the safest and least disruptive decision

for our MCS Family. Of course, there will be occasions when masks will need to be

removed during lunch and some educational programs.”

8. Since August 4, 2021, and as a result of the face mask mandate imposed by

Defendant NICHOLS, the Plaintiffs’ children have been compelled to wear face masks at

all times while attending Madison City Schools.

9. On numerous occasions since August 4, 2021, the Plaintiffs and other parties

have requested officials of Madison City Schools, including Defendant NICHOLS, to

rescind such face mask mandate, all of which efforts have proven futile.

10. RIZO’S son, J.R., started getting headaches after wearing a face mask at school,

and he also uses a doctor-prescribed inhaler. RIZO has been in routine contact with the

Madison City Schools Superintendent, DR. NICHOLS, seeking an exemption from the

mask requirement for her son. DR. NICHOLS has responded that J.R. would not be

exempted from the face mask requirement due to headaches or using an inhaler.

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11. The PARKER’S son, T.P., is a member of the Liberty Middle Schools Bands.

When T.P. refused his mask in class, the Assistant Band Director, Mrs. Simms, referred

him to the main band director, Mrs. Rakoff. Mrs. Rakoff then called the Assistant

Principal, Mrs. Odom, who gave T.P. three options: 1) wear a mask, 2) go to isolation, or

3) go home. T.P. said to Mrs. Odom, “I have every right to be here without a mask,” to

which she replied, “No, you don’t.”

12.(a) The GILESES sent an email to Superintendent NICHOLS on Saturday

November 13, 2021, on behalf of their children, A.G. and D.G., who attend school at

Liberty Middle School and Heritage Elementary School, respectively. The GILESES

informed DR. NICHOLS that A.G. and D.G. would no longer wear masks at school. In

that email, the GILESES notified DR. NICHOLS that face masks are medical devices and

that neither he nor the board members were licensed to practice medicine so they couldn’t

mandate that the children must wear face masks. They also stated that it would be illegal

for the school to segregate their kids from their peers or not give them access to their

classrooms as a result of not wearing masks.

(b) On Monday November 15, 2021, D. G. went to his first class of the day at

Liberty Middle School and his teacher for Honors English Language Arts, Ms. LaParis

James, stated that if he did not put on a mask, she would “send him down to the office.”

He didn’t have a mask so she sent him to the office where he was given a mask, after

which he was allowed back into the classroom.

(c) On Monday November 15, 2021, A.G. walked into Heritage Elementary

without wearing a mask. She was allowed into her classroom by the teacher and was
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doing her morning work when Dr. Georgina Nelson, the school principal, came in and

pointed at A.G., gesturing for her to come downstairs to her office. Dr. Nelson told A. G.

that she was going to call her parents. Ultimately, Dr. Nelson gave A.G. a mask and

instructed her to go back to her classroom wearing the mask.

13.(a). On Friday, January 14, 2022, the LAMBERTSON’S daughter, M.L., wore a

loose-fitting mask. At school, her mask slipped down below her nose. The principal, Mr.

Hill, came out of his office and yelled at M.L. to pull up her mask, admonishing her, “I

am the principal of this school and you must do what I say!”

(b) The LAMBERTSON’S son, B.L., was granted a 504 exemption, excusing him

from having to wear a mask in school. On August 18, 2021, B.L. went to his jazz music

studyhall without a mask. The teacher, Mrs. Holden, refused to allow B.L. to enter the

classroom, stating “her classroom is a mask only zone.” B.L. explained his 504 medical

exemption to Mrs. Holden who then escorted B.L. to the front office. Thereafter, B.L.

was not allowed to join that jazz studyhall but was sent to a different one.

(c) On October 22, 2021, B.L. was participating in the CyberPatriot computer

competition at Bob Jones High School, monitored by Maj. Lacey. Maj. Lacey told B.L.

he needed to wear a mask, but B.L. reminded Maj. Lacey that he has a 504

accommodation. Maj. Lacey continued to demand that B.L. either leave or put on a mask,

threatening to call security if he continued to defy her instruction. B.L. and his team were

ultimately moved to a separate room which was not set up for the competition, where they

had to compete without full access to computer files needed for the event.

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14. In August, 2021, ASHLEY DENNIS met with the principal of Columbia

Elementary to express concerns over headaches her son, H.D., experienced after wearing

a face mask for extended periods of time. Mrs. DENNIS showed the school principal

H.D.’s medical release due to asthma, signed by their doctor. Later that day, Mrs.

DENNIS received an email from the principal stating that DR. NICHOLS would not

accept the medical release to excuse H.D. from the face mask requirement. On another

occasion, in October, Mrs. DENNIS received a phone call from the principal informing

her that H.D. had been sent to the office because he was not wearing his mask properly.

H.D. was very distressed for being singled out in front of the classroom and being sent to

the principal’s office.

15. THERESA MILLER has two children, one of whom is A.M., who attends James

Clemens High School, and A.M., who attends Heritage Elementary School. Both children

have gotten bloody noses from wearing masks at school. Mrs. MILLER’S older child has

asthma and allergies which are aggravated by wearing a mask. He also uses a doctor-

prescribed inhaler and wearing a mask interferes with proper use. Both children

frequently come home with headaches which they attribute to the masks since they do not

get headaches when not at school and not wearing a mask.

16. During the week of December 13-17, 2021, the ANDREWS’S son, N.A., was

walking in the hall between classes at Liberty Middle School when he heard a teacher

yell, “Pull up your mask!” As he passed the teacher in a group of other students, the

teacher reached out and grabbed N.A. by the shoulders, and yelled, “I told you to pull up

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your mask!” N.A. complied, pulling up his mask and explained that he didn’t know that

the teacher was yelling at him as there were many other students in the hall.

17. The statutory authority forming the foundation for this face mask mandate

imposed by Defendant NICHOLS is claimed to be Alabama Code § 16-1-30(b), which

provides that “The local board of education shall, upon the written recommendation of the

chief executive officer, determine and establish a written educational policy for the board

of education and its employees and shall prescribe rules and regulations for the conduct

and management of the schools.”

18. Another statutory authority forming the foundation for this face mask mandate

imposed by Defendant NICHOLS may be Alabama Code § 16-11-9, which provides as

follows: “The city board of education is hereby vested with all the powers necessary or

proper for the administration and management of the free public schools within such city

and adjacent territory to the city which has been annexed as a part of the school district

which includes a city having a city board of education.”

19. Neither Alabama Code § 16-1-30(b), § 16-11-9, or any other statutes that

Defendant NICHOLS may claim as authority for the face mask mandate, applicable to

students enrolled in Madison City Schools, provide the essential lawful authority for him

to impose this face mask requirement as a condition of attendance.

20. To accord relief to Plaintiffs, it is essential that this court declare whether

Defendant NICHOLS or other Defendants possess, based on the statutory authority noted

above or any other, the authority to impose the face mask mandate applicable to students

enrolled in Madison City Schools.

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PRAYER FOR RELIEF:

Wherefore, the premises considered, Plaintiffs respectfully move this court for a

declaration that Defendants’ face mask mandate as noted above and imposed by means of

DR. NICHOLS’ Madison City Schools Revised Reentry Plan issued on August 2, 2021,

is void, of no force and effect, and is not compulsory. Plaintiffs also request such other,

further and different relief to which they may be entitled.

Respectfully submitted this the 3rd day of February, 2022.

/s/ Lowell H. Becraft, Jr.

Lowell H. Becraft, Jr.
Attorney for Plaintiffs
ASB 5005-F66L
403C Andrew Jackson Way
Huntsville, AL 35801
256-533-2535
[email protected]