Florida parents sue school board over student mask requirement

Four parents in Florida are suing the Sarasota County School Board over a mandate that requires students to wear face masks amid the coronavirus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the use of face masks in spaces where social distancing of at least 6 feet isn’t possible. The CDC has specific recommendations for masks in schools.

NBC News reported parents Amy Cook, Gustavo Collazo, Nicholas Eastman and Catherine Gonzales filed the suit. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported the 59-page lawsuit was filed Oct. 21 in a Sarasota County court. The board is listed as a defendant.

The suit followed the board’s approval of a proposal that extended an emergency 90-day mask order that requires students to wear masks most of the day.

According to the parents, forcing children to wear masks denies them their right to an equal education.

The suit invokes the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case, in which ruled racially segregated public schools were unconstitutional, even if the facilities are “separate but equal.”

The Florida Department of Health’s COVID-19 dashboard reported 4,865 new cases Sunday, the most on a Sunday since early August, as positive test rates trend upwards again.

Over one-third of Florida’s reported new cases Sunday came from Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

For the coronavirus pandemic, Florida has had 807,412 cases and, after another 28 deaths reported, 16,789 resident deaths and 16,997 total deaths.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/385fugO