Governor Ron DeSantis’ school mask ban is upheld by a Florida appeals court, reversing a lower court’s ruling.
Because of today’s ruling, the state has a clear path to enforcing its law against mandatory school masks.
The 1st District Court of Appeal decided Friday that a Tallahassee judge erred in lifting an automatic stay that had blocked implementation of the mask requirement ban two days earlier.
As a result, the state may restart its efforts to enforce financial penalties on the 13 school boards that are presently resisting the mask mandate prohibition.
Among these have been salary reductions for local school board members who voted to enforce student mask regulations.
The U.S. Department of Education announced Thursday the launch of a new grant program to assist school districts in Florida and elsewhere that have lost money as a result of implementing anti-coronavirus policies such as obligatory masks.
According to DeSantis spokesperson Christina Pushaw, the ruling means that “the regulation mandating ALL Florida school districts to preserve parents’ rights to make decisions regarding masking children is BACK IN EFFECT!”
DeSantis has claimed that the new Parents Bill of Rights law gives parents ultimate discretion over whether their children wear masks to school.
Mandatory mask laws allow for an opt-out solely for medical grounds, not parental discretion.
Leon County Circuit Judge John C. Cooper agreed in an order dated Aug. 27 and removed a stay on Wednesday that had prevented his judgment from taking effect before.
In response to the governor’s request for a permanent mask mandate ban, the appeals court has reinstated the stay.
According to the appeals judges, a stay is anticipated when a public official or agency seeks appellate review of a judicial decision.
Cooper stated in his prior ruling that there is compelling evidence that wearing masks provides some protection for children in crowded school environments, particularly those under the age of 12 who are not yet eligible for immunization.
The legal fight comes as Florida struggles to deal with the extremely infectious delta form of the coronavirus, which has infiltrated hospitals throughout the state.
