Florida judge strikes down DeSantis' ban on mask mandates

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — In a captious determination impacting millions of students passim the state, a Florida justice connected Friday ruled that nationalist schoolhouse districts tin legally enforce cosmopolitan disguise mandates — without the quality for children to opt-out — successful bid to dilatory the dispersed of COVID-19.

In issuing his ruling, Judge John Cooper of the 2nd Judicial Circuit Court of Florida delivered a crushing stroke to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who successful precocious July filed an exigency bid that was designed to springiness parents the last accidental implicit whether their children should beryllium masked successful school.

Cooper connected Friday said the politician has nary ineligible authorization to contented a broad prohibition connected schoolhouse disguise mandates.

A radical of parents opposed to the DeSantis' bid filed a suit earlier this period against the governor, Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, the Florida Department of Education, and the Florida Board of Education, saying the directive puts the wellness and information of children astatine risk.

The suit claims DeSantis overstepped his Constitutional authorization by taking distant the quality for schoolhouse districts to marque health-related decisions to supply a "safe, secure, and precocious prime strategy of escaped nationalist schools."

DeSantis argued that facial covering decisions autumn nether the guidelines of the recently passed Parents' Bill of Rights, which gives parents and guardians wide power implicit a child's education, upbringing, and wellness care.

However, Cooper connected Friday said the Parents' Bill of Rights says thing of banning schoolhouse disguise mandates, and DeSantis' bid "is without ineligible authority."

"The defendants bash not person authorization nether this instrumentality to a blanket, mandatory prohibition against a look disguise argumentation that does not supply a parental opt out," Cooper said. "They simply bash not person that authority."

At slightest 10 nationalist schoolhouse districts successful Florida had already instituted their ain facial covering requirements for children without the quality to opt-out successful defiance of DeSantis' order. The lone exceptions are for students with definite aesculapian conditions.

Those sweeping mandates impact astir 2.9 cardinal students passim the state.

Cooper said that based connected surging COVID-19 cases due to the fact that of the highly contagious delta variant, a "higher hazard of corruption to children," and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommending "universal indoor masking for each teachers, staff, students, and visitors to K-12 schools, careless of vaccination status," it is tenable for schoolhouse districts to enact facial covering requirements without opt-out provisions.

"We had a different, little infectious, little unsafe signifier of microorganism past twelvemonth than we person this year," Cooper said. "As the facts alteration connected the ground, the request oregon nonaccomplishment to request for assorted measures volition besides change."

While Cooper argued that "we each person idiosyncratic rights," helium feels the close for students to not deterioration a disguise puts the wellness of different children astatine hazard due to the fact that of the dangers of the pandemic.

"Parents' rights are precise important," Cooper said. "But they're not without immoderate tenable regulation depending upon safety."

DeSantis has repeatedly threatened punishments for schoolhouse officials who interruption his exigency order.

However, the Florida Department of Education frankincense acold has lone begun to penalize schoolhouse districts successful Broward and Alachua counties by withholding a information of the salaries of definite schoolhouse committee members connected a monthly basis.

Cooper connected Thursday said determination was nary COVID-19 authorities of exigency successful effect successful precocious July erstwhile DeSantis issued his order.

"A one-size-fits-all argumentation for pupil wellness and information arsenic dictated by Tallahassee, successful different words by the state, runs contrary to [a section] of the Florida Constitution," DeSantis said.

DeSantis said Thursday if Cooper rules against the state, it volition entreaty his decision.

This communicative was primitively published by Matt Papaycik connected Scripps presumption WPTV successful West Palm Beach, Florida.