Judge hears power struggle over masking in Florida schools

The politically-charged Florida debate over wearing masks in school to guard against coronavirus infection is now before a judge

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Florida's power struggle over wearing masks in school to guard against coronavirus infections landed Monday before a judge considering a lawsuit that challenges Gov. Ron DeSantis' order reserving the mask decision for parents. The three-day hearing before Leon County Circuit Judge John C. Cooper pits pro-mask parents against the Republican governor and state education officials who say parents, not schools, should choose whether their children cover up inside schools. The hearings come as the highly contagious delta variant causes a surge in cases, hospitalizations and deaths across Florida, where the school year is already being disrupted. Some districts belatedly began requiring masks, as recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and numerous medical organizations, after classroom exposures forced them to send thousands of students and hundreds of teachers and staff into isolation or quarantine.