Court rules for Florida governor, reinstates ban on mask mandates in state’s schools

FILE PHOTO: Florida Governor Ron Desantis speaks during an election rally by US President Donald Trump at Pensacola International Airport in Pensacola, Florida, October 23, 2020. REUTERS / Tom Brenner / File Photo / File Photo

September 10 (Reuters) – A Florida appeals court ruled in favor of Governor Ron DeSantis on Friday and effectively reinstated his ban on mask mandates in the state’s public schools.

The First District Court of Appeals ruling reverses an earlier ruling by a Florida district court judge who found a parent-filed lawsuit that the state had no power to ban the face-covering mandates.

“No surprise here – the 1st DCA restored the right of parents to make the best decisions for their children,” DeSantis wrote on Twitter. “I will continue to fight for parental rights.”

Florida is one of several US states where Republican governors have tried to prevent local governments and school districts from mandating masks in a highly politicized dispute over COVID-19 precautions.

The governors say such rules violate personal freedom. Mask compulsory advocates have stated the rules are necessary to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic during a surge fueled by the more contagious Delta variant.

DeSantis issued an executive order in July that excludes the school mask mandate for schoolchildren. The governor has said parents should decide whether their children need to cover their faces in the classroom.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the fourth largest district in the United States, is one of more than a dozen school districts that opposed DeSantis to the imposed mask. This week the State Department of Education withheld funds from two of those counties.

On August 27, Leon County District Court Judge John Cooper ruled in favor of the plaintiff’s parents. Cooper then imposed an automatic suspension on the case, which would have prevented his decision from taking effect pending appeal.

However, the First District Court of Appeals said it had “serious doubts” about the standing, jurisdiction and other legal matters in the case.

Charles Gallagher, the parent’s senior attorney, wrote on Twitter that they will seek a ruling from the state’s Supreme Court.

“With a stay on the spot, students, parents and teachers are in danger again,” he said.

In a letter to Florida’s chief education officer on Friday, the US Department of Education’s Civil Rights Bureau said it was investigating whether the state’s policy is preventing school districts from serving the needs of students with disabilities. Continue reading

The department announced last month that it had launched similar investigations in Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah.

Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta and Brendan O’Brien in Chicago; Additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles Editing by Howard Goller and Jonathan Oatis

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