SARASOTA (WSNN) – Tensions rise over the heated debate of masks in Sarasota Schools. So much so, there’s a lawsuit now.
Parents are suing the Sarasota School board over the mask mandate extension, which the board passed last week.
“You have to hit them where it hurts, hit them with a lawsuit,” Sarasota father, Seth Quinto said. “They then have to reply in court.”
Sarasota father, Seth Quinto, has a daughter going to Southside Elementary School. And more than 200 people contributed to raising over $11,000 in a gofundme page, to file the nearly 60-page lawsuit; with a focus on how he says how masks are harmful to children.
“Masks do all sorts of damage to children; psychological damage, social damage,” Quinto said.
And how it’s up to the parents to decide what’s best for their child.
“This is a school board,” Quinto said. “The children are our children, they’re not their children.”
Booker High School Mother, Jennifer Sholi, disagrees with the lawsuit and says the school board made the right decision.
“I am thrilled that the school board cited with science and evidence and fact,” Sholi said. “It would have been greatly irresponsible to remove the masks at this point, especially when they see the numbers climbing.”
Florida case numbers spiked to more than 5,000 cases last week.
“By litigating this issue now, we’re burdening the school district with more expense than they’re going to be able to recover,” Sholi said. “We’ve already seen a tremendous increase in our expenses due to COVID, so we’re taking more money away from our students and our teachers.”
But there is one thing both sides agree on…
“They have made themselves extraordinarily political in everything they do, and there’s no place for that,” Quinto said.
“COVID is not a political virus,” Sholi said. “And I think one of the biggest problems is that this has been politicized.”
It’s about the children, not politics.
“Our children are our most precious possessions; no one wants to see anything happen to a child,” Sholi said.
Despite the ruling, the school board can always change its decision. Their next meeting will be on November 10th.
You can find the lawsuit below:
