Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper called DeSantis’ executive order unconstitutional and announced that the governor cannot force it – in a win for a group of parents who brought a lawsuit.
The governor’s executive order permitted parents to decide if they want their kids to wear masks to school rather than have local school districts make the choice.
Cooper announced that DeSantis’ order "is without legal authority."
School boards in 10 districts in the state had voted to defy the order, choosing to order masks because of the coronavirus resurgence, and they faced perhaps having their salaries withheld. The Biden administration had secured federal funds for any district that lost money for ordering masks.
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Cooper announced that government actions necessary to protect public health are exempted from a new Florida law, the "Parents' Bill of Rights," that DeSantis and others had argued granted parents the ultimate authority.
The judge said a school district’s choice to ask for student masking to prevent the spread of the virus falls within that exemption.
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The law "doesn't ban mask mandates at all," Cooper announced throughout a two-hour hearing that was conducted online because of the pandemic. "It doesn't require that a mask mandate must include a parental opt-out at all."
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Cooper further issued an injunction against the state board of education because of its enforcement of the order, according to FOX 13 of Tampa.
He continued that the law doesn’t allow for the state to penalize school boards for their defiance, stating they deserve due process.
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"Parents' rights are very important but they’re not without some reasonable limitations," Cooper announced, according to FOX 13.
The governor’s office said the state plans to appeal the ruling.
"It’s not surprising that Judge Cooper would rule against parents' rights and their ability to make the best educational and medical decisions for their family, but instead rule in favor of elected politicians," spokeswoman Taryn Fenske said in a statement. "This ruling was made with incoherent justifications, not based in science and facts — frankly not even remotely focused on the merits of the case presented."
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Amy Nell, who resides in the Tampa area and was one of the parents to sue, explained that Cooper’s ruling made her feel heard for the first time in a while.
"Since the beginning of the school year it has felt like bizarro world," she said. "We are being told that science — what we think it is and everything we know about viruses — may be not true." Her son is in elementary school.
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