LAWYERING UP

Parent Sues School District After Kid Gets COVID From Unmasked Classmate

Months after the district’s board ditched a mask requirement, Shannon Jensen’s three sons tested positive for the coronavirus.

A mother of three has sued a southeastern Wisconsin school district, saying her sons contracted COVID-19 after her eldest was seated next to a sick, unmasked classmate. The lawsuit, filed by Shannon Jensen on Oct. 5 against the Waukesha School District and school board, will seek an injunction to force the district to comply with COVID guidelines laid out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The district, which ditched a student mask requirement and other virus mitigation measures in May, declined to discuss the suit with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which first reported the filing.

According to Jensen’s case, one of her sons developed COVID-19 symptoms and tested positive for the disease in mid-September after sitting next to a sick classmate for two days. Her son had been masked. During the family’s quarantine, her other two boys also tested positive. Jensen claimed she was told the district would not be contact tracing or quarantining the class at any point. The lawsuit is being funded by the Minocqua Brewing Company Super PAC, a company owned by Kirk Bangstad, whom the AP reported has had no qualms about airing his grievances with the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic.