Florida’s Mask Mandate Ban Now Officially Blocked—But State Will Still Try To Punish Schools - Forbes

Topline

Florida’s ban on school districts imposing mask mandates is now no longer legally enforceable as a ruling striking down the state policy took effect Thursday—but the Florida Department of Education still intends to move forward with its plans to withhold funding from schools that have mask mandates by immediately appealing the ruling.

Key Facts

Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper ruled Friday the state’s policy restricting school mask mandates was unlawful, and issued a permanent injunction blocking the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) from enforcing the policy—but the ruling only took effect Thursday when Cooper signed his written order.

Florida prohibited school districts from imposing mask mandates unless parents could opt their children out of it, which Cooper ruled the state did not have the authority to do and was not in line with Florida's “Parents’ Bill of Rights” law that state officials used as a justification for the policy.

FDOE had moved forward with enforcing the policy even after Cooper’s ruling, as Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran announced Monday the state had withheld funding from Alachua and Broward counties, the first two school districts that imposed strict mask mandates without a parental opt-out.

The state said it will withhold an amount equivalent to the school board members’ salaries, and will continue withholding the funds each month until the districts’ mask policies are changed.

FDOE communications director Jared Ochs told Forbes in an interview Tuesday the department will “keep [withholding funds] until a court tells us we cannot,” as it intends to immediately appeal Cooper’s ruling, which Ochs said will trigger a stay that blocks the ruling while the litigation continues to play out.

FDOE also intends to continue moving forward with punishments against school districts that followed Alachua and Broward by imposing their own mask mandates, Ochs said, and the department sent letters warning of impending consequences to at least eight school districts on Friday—though the school districts have so far kept their mask mandates in effect despite the consequences.

Crucial Quote

“A governor’s executive order and an agency’s actions must be based on authority granted to them by the Constitution or the Legislature,” Cooper wrote in his ruling striking down the mask mandate ban. “Executive power exercised without authority is illegal, null and void, and unenforceable.”

Big Number

At least 13. That’s how many Florida school districts have now imposed mask mandates that the state believes violate its policy, including those covering Florida’s largest cities like Miami, Orlando, Palm Beach, Jacksonville, Tampa, Tallahassee and Sarasota. Brevard, Lee and Volusia counties became the latest districts to vote in favor of mask mandates this week in light of Cooper’s ruling, with Lee County also becoming the third Republican-leaning district to issue a strict mandate after Sarasota and Indian River counties.

What To Watch For

Once the state appeals Cooper’s ruling and an automatic stay is issued, Ochs said, the case will go back to the district court, where Cooper will once again rule on the case on appeal. If Cooper rules against the state again, the department of education then intends to go to the appeals court and ask for another stay from that court in order to keep the mask mandate ban in effect. As this litigation is playing out, the state could also potentially face new legal challenges from the districts that are facing funding cuts over their mask orders, on top of the multiple parent-led lawsuits that have already been filed. Carlee Simon, superintendent of Alachua County Public Schools, told NBC News the district has already started the process to take legal action to “ensure that Florida's districts have the right to act in the best interests of those they serve.”

Key Background

Florida is one of 10 states that have enacted policies that ban or severely restrict school mask mandates—not all of which are in effect—though the state’s policy has proved particularly contentious as Florida faces a massive Covid-19 surge. The state’s Covid outbreak has already affected thousands of students and shut down some schools entirely, but Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has stood by the state’s mask mandate ban despite the controversy and downplayed the impact of the pandemic in schools. “I think at the end of the day, we’re just trying to stand with the parents,” DeSantis said at a press conference Monday about the mask mandate ban, predicting the state was “going to have really good grounds to appeal” Cooper’s ruling.