Florida withholds school board salaries for refusal to follow mask mandate ban
Florida school districts can now legally require students to wear masks
The Florida Department of Education is withholding the salaries of school board members in Broward and Alachua counties for keeping their mask mandates in place.
The move comes days after a state judge ruled that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis overstepped his authority when he issued an executive order banning mask mandates. The governor’s order allowed for parents to decide if their child wears a mask at school. The Associated Press reports that Leon County Circuit Judge John C. Cooper said DeSantis’ order “is without legal authority.”
Florida school districts can now legally require students to wear masks.
“I’m requiring that the parties follow the statute, called the Parents’ Bill of Rights,” said Judge Cooper.
“A school district adopting a policy such as a mask mandate is acting within its discretion. It has been given this discretion by the Florida legislature,” Cooper added.
Florida Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran announced on Monday that the state was withholding funds from Broward and Alachua counties “for their continued violation of state law.”
Corcoran issued a statement that read in part, “We’re going to fight to protect parents’ rights to make health care decisions for their children. They know what is best for their children. What’s unacceptable is the politicians who have raised their right hands and pledged, under oath, to uphold the Constitution but are not doing so. Simply said, elected officials cannot pick and choose what laws they want to follow.”
Corcoran said the funds would continue to be withheld in Alachua and Broward counties until the school districts comply.
Broward County Public Schools Interim Superintendent Dr. Vickie L. Cartwright issued a response that read in part, “The health and safety of our students, teachers and staff continue to be our main priorities. As such, BCPS will continue to mandate masks, knowing the data shows they help minimize the spread of COVID-19 in our schools.”
Alachua County Public Schools Superintendent Carlee Simon said she was “very troubled by the state’s action.”
“Our School Board members made a courageous decision to protect the health and lives of students, staff and the people of this community, and a court has already ruled they had the legal right to do so. They deserve praise, not penalties,” she said.
Cartwright said, “This decision will be reviewed by the School Board after Labor Day as conditions may change and modification may be appropriate.”
Jared Ochs, director of communications for the state’s Department of Education, said the school funds have been withheld for nearly a week.
“Our Department plans on continuing to follow the rule of law until such time as the Court issues its ruling, and subsequent to that ruling, we plan on immediately appealing this decision to the First DCA, from which we will seek to stay the ruling,” he said in an email Tuesday.
Florida is experiencing its worst surge in COVID cases, with the state leading in the number of hospitalizations and deaths per capita, theGrio previously reported.
More people in Florida are being hospitalized and dying of COVID than in any other state since the height of the pandemic, per the report. The surge prompted Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer to call on residents to preserve the city’s liquid oxygen supply, which is used to treat COVID patients and to purify drinking water.
“It’s critical that we continue to work together and each one of us do our part, as we have done throughout this pandemic, to mitigate the impacts the virus continues to have on our community,” Mayor Dyer said during the news conference. “While this is another new challenge, I know that as a community, working together, we can overcome it with the help of our residents and businesses.”
About 52% of Florida residents are fully vaccinated, according to the New York Times data. The counties with the least amount of vaccinated residents are said to be driving the increase in COVID cases.
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