A group of Florida parents representing 15 children with disabilities filed a legal challenge aimed at Gov. Ron DeSantis (R)'s mask mandate ban in schools.
DeSantis's executive order, which was signed into law in late July 2021, states that "if the State Board of Education determines that a district school board is unwilling or unable to comply with the law, the State Board shall have the authority to, among other things, withhold the transfer of state funds, discretionary grant funds ... and declare the school district ineligible for competitive grants."
The legal complaint names the defendants, who are identified as children with disabilities ranging from asthma to anxiety to autism. "The Governor’s most recent executive order preventing school districts from putting protections in place for students ... has tied the hands of school districts from acting and made it impossible for school districts to provide students with disabilities a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment,"
According to The Hill, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) came out on Sunday and did an interview with CNN, stating his opposition to the DeSantis order: "I’m a conservative. I think you govern best when you govern closest to the people being governed."
"And if a local community is having a — their ICU is full, and the people at the local schools see that they've got to make sure they stay open because otherwise children miss out for another year of school, and they put in policy, then the local officials should be listened to."
"When it comes to local conditions, if my hospital is full and my vaccination rate is low and infection rate is going crazy, we should allow local officials to make those decisions best for their community."
Both in states with and without mask mandates, COVID cases have started to surge again, with the Delta variant making its way across the globe.
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins also questioned Gov. DeSantis's latest order as students prepare to return to school in the fall. Collins said students should wear masks, as the Delta variant continued to gain momentum in virus hot spots across the nation.
The director doesn't "understand" DeSantis's order, adding that "this seems like something local officials ought to be able to decide based on their community’s circumstance." Collins pushed back against the governor, as "Being asked to wear a mask is perhaps not quite the huge challenge [or] burden that sometimes it’s being portrayed."
"Kids are pretty adaptable," he said.
"Delta is as contagious as we now know it is, and we want to try to put an end to what is a very significant uptick right now. Wearing masks, if you're under 12 and can't be vaccinated, when you're [in] school is a really smart thing to do."
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