State asks appeals court to block school board challenges to Gov. DeSantis' mask mandate ban
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration has asked an appeals court to block challenges filed by five school boards against a Department of Health rule aimed at preventing students from being forced to wear masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Department of Health attorneys went to the 1st District Court of Appeal on Monday after an administrative law judge refused to dismiss the challenges filed by the school boards in Broward, Alachua, Orange, Miami-Dade and Leon counties and Leon County Superintendent Rocky Hanna.
In a 28-page petition, the department contended that the school boards don’t have legal authority to challenge the emergency rule, which requires that parents be able to “opt out” their children from any school mask mandates.
“In sum, the Florida Constitution creates a hierarchy under which the state supervises the education system as a whole,” the department’s attorneys wrote. “While school boards administer the day-to-day operations of local schools, they must do so ‘in harmony’ with the state laws and rules they are statutorily required to follow.”
https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/local/2021/09/21/florida-wants-appeals-court-block-challenges-state-band-mask-mandates/5799078001/
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