florida gov ron desantis appeals a judgment that he exceeded his authority by ordering school boards not to impose strict mask mandates on students

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appealed a judge's ruling that said he exceeded his gubernatorial authority by barring schools from imposing mask mandates. 

On Thursday, the governor's lawyers took their case to the 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee. 

Despite Florida's high infection and hospitalization rates, DeSantis has staunchly opposed any mask requirements and wants the appeals court to reverse last week's decision by Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper. 

Cooper's decision essentially gave Florida's 67 school boards the power to impose a student mask mandate without parental consent. 

At least 10 Florida school boards voted to defy DeSantis, but Cooper's ruling was automatically stayed after the governor filed his appeal. 

In his ruling last week, Cooper agreed with a group of parents who claimed in a lawsuit that DeSantis' order is unconstitutional and cannot be enforced. 

Earlier this week, DeSantis expressed confidence that he will win the appeal and said the Parents Bill of Rights law gives parents the authority to oversee their children's education and health.

Cooper found, however, that the Bill of Rights law exempts government actions that are needed to protect public health and are reasonable and limited in scope - such as masking students to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in schools.

'It doesn't require that a mask mandate must include a parental opt-out at all,' Cooper said in an oral ruling Friday.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (pictured here on August 18 speaking at the opening of a monoclonal antibody site in Pembroke Pines, Florida) appealed last week's ruling that barred him from mandating schools allow parents to decide if their children should wear a mask

Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper ruled last week that DeSantis exceeded his gubernatorial authority by barring schools from imposing mask mandates

Those in favor of wearing masks say they're essential for children's safety

Anti-mask parents argue the government is overreaching by forcing their children to mask up

Forcing students to wear masks in schools has been a flashpoint for debate and pitted parents against each other during school board meetings throughout the state. 

DeSantis and state education officials have threatened to impose financial penalties on school boards that adopt a mask requirement without a provision allowing parents to opt out.

So far, they have moved to withhold salaries for school board members in Alachua and Broward counties, two of the 13 school boards that represent over half of Florida's 2.8 million students. 

Both school boards voted in favor mask mandates, and Broward County School Board told the Department of Education on Tuesday that it won't back down on its mask requirement.  

Its policy, like that of most other districts, gives parents a medical opt-out for students.

The board said giving parents the unlimited right to send their kids to school without a mask would infringe on the rights of other parents who want their children to be safe.

In response, DeSantis said, 'Ultimately, we are just trying to stand with the parents. We think it's important that they are given the ability to opt out.'

Meanwhile, in Sarasota County, where another school mask mandate went into effect on Monday, hundreds of parents were seen lining up at a chiropractor to collect medical exemption forms for their children.

'We were in and out, came in, signed a clipboard and handed a sheet,' parent Paulina Testerman told WJBF-TV of the scene at Twin Palms Chiropractic.

'Nobody asked to see our children. The forms were pre-signed, there was a stack behind the counter, and they were just passed out.' 

Chiropractor Dan Busch spoke with the ABC affiliate outside his attorney's office, saying that he had only provided exemptions to students and parents he met with personally.

'This is not a political thing. I am not an anti-mask person or an anti-vax person, but I am a pro-freedom, pro-choice person,' said Busch.

Busch said that any 'licensed health care physician' is qualified to provide medical exemptions, including chiropractors.  

Florida health officials reported new data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicating that the state last month experienced its deadliest peak in daily death rates since the start of the pandemic

The latest data indicates that case numbers peaked in August but are now on the downward swing

The mask debate comes at a time when the Sunshine state has been ravaged by the COVID-19 'Delta' variant. 

By mid-August, more than 21,000 new cases were being added per day, compared to about 8,500 a month earlier. 

The state said 16,820 people were hospitalized over the last week, down from a record of more than 17,000 the week before. 

Florida Department of Health also reported its deadliest peak in daily death rates since the start of the pandemic, surpassing previous coronavirus surges in the state, according to federal data published Thursday.

Data provided by the state to CDC showed that at least eight days in August produced more daily deaths than during the last peak of the pandemic in August 2020. 

The typical lag times in the reporting of deaths means the true toll of the pandemic can take weeks to emerge.

The data became available on Thursday after the state reported to the CDC more than 1,338 new deaths that occurred over several days or weeks.

The figures show the seven-day average in daily deaths reached 244 last month, as compared with their highest previous rate of 227 in August 2020.  

Part of the issue is the low vaccination rate.  About 63.2 percent of eligible Florida residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, while 74.5 percent of eligible Americans have received the vaccine. 

Florida has reported just under 3.3 million cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic

Overall, 45,909 people have died in Florida, according to the CDC numbers

As of late August, Florida reported that 63.2 percent of the population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Overall, 52.2 percent of the population is fully vaccinated

Pro-mask parents say masks are essential for children's safety, while anti-mask parents argue the government is overreaching by forcing their children to mask up. 

DeSantis, who is eyeing a possible presidential run in 2024, has dismissed the recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that people wear masks. 

In particular, he contends that masks are less essential for young people and carry some risks of their own for children.

But Cooper said the state's medical experts who testified during the trial that masking is ineffective in preventing COVID-19's spread are in a distinct minority among doctors and scientists. 

He also said that while DeSantis frequently states that a Brown University study concluded masks are ineffective, the study's authors wrote that no such conclusion should be drawn.