(CN) — A Florida judge on Friday blocked enforcement of an executive order from Republican Governor Ron DeSantis that penalized school districts for requiring students to wear masks on campus.
Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper found that the governor and Florida education officials exceeded their authority by implementing a statewide ban on mask mandates in school. Cooper ruled in favor of a group of parents who had sued DeSantis, claiming his action disregarded public safety in the midst of a mounting Covid-19 outbreak.
In a ruling from the bench, the judge issued an injunction against the Florida Department of Education and Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, a move that in effect bars enforcement of the governor's order.
"Parents' rights are very important. But they're not without some reasonable limitation, depending upon safety and reasonableness and compelling state need," Cooper said in a court proceeding held via teleconference.
DeSantis signed the executive order July 30, threatening to withhold funding from public schools if they did not give parents the final say on whether their children would wear masks on campus. The order referenced the recently passed Florida Parents' Bill of Rights, which ensures parents' right to control their children's health care decisions, among other provisions.
A slew of school districts across Florida -- including in the state's most populous counties -- defied the executive order and required students to wear masks on campus as the Covid-19 outbreak worsened at the start of the school year.
Daily reported deaths linked to the virus recently surpassed 200 in Florida, averaged over a week. That figure had been hovering around 30 in early July.
Cooper's decision hinged on the Parents' Bill of Rights section that tackles the balance between parental choice and school health policies. The section states that school districts can take action on student health issues – in a manner that may impinge on parental rights – so long as the action is "reasonable," serves a "compelling state interest" and is the least restrictive means of serving that interest.
The judge compared mask mandates to common school policies such as dress codes and restrictions on students carrying knives on campus. He said school districts have the inherent power to pass safety measures that meet the burden outlined in the Florida Parents' Bill of Rights.
"I conclude that [the] evidence demonstrates that face mask policies that follow CDC guidance are at this point in time reasonable and consistent with the best scientific and medical opinion and guidance," he said.
Taryn Fenske, a communications director for DeSantis, told Courthouse News that the governor plans to challenge the decision in the First District Court of Appeal.
"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," Fenske said in a statement.
Throughout a four-day evidentiary trial, the parties jousted over the effectiveness of mask mandates, presenting competing expert testimony and scientific studies amassed since the outset of the pandemic.
As the judge framed it, DeSantis' counsel cherrypicked lines from studies in an effort to circumvent scientific consensus on how masks can help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
One of the studies at issue was a May report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on mask use in Georgia schools. The study showed that there was a 21% lower incidence of Covid-19 in schools with mask requirements for students, but that the figure did not meet the threshold of statistical significance.
The defense focused on isolated data points from the study but ignored its chief conclusion attesting to the "importance of masking and ventilation for preventing SARS-CoV-2 transmission in elementary schools," the judge found.
Cooper added that DeSantis and his appointed education officials appeared to have been pushing prohibition on in-school mask mandates months ago before the delta variant, a more contagious strain of the virus, took hold in the state.
"Part of the issue in this trial is [whether] the CDC guidelines are a rational basis for masking. They are. However, that could change very shortly. Their guidance could change. Conditions on the ground could change. Conditions from county to county could change. A small … rural county might have a different analysis or needs and requirements than Miami-Dade County does," the judge said.
During closing arguments, opposing counsel sparred over whether the court had the authority to override DeSantis' order.
Plaintiffs' attorney Craig Whisenhunt told the court that Florida residents "don't live in a monarchy or a dictatorship."
"When an elected official oversteps the boundaries of their authority, that redress is best brought before a court competent to review those actions," Whisenhunt argued.
Michael Abel, DeSantis' attorney, countered that the plaintiffs were trying to drag the court into a health policy debate.
"Plaintiffs want this court to rebalance state policy and in doing so overrule the parent choice rights," Abel said.
While the judge issued a permanent injunction, he clarified that he is denying the plaintiffs' request for relief on two state constitutional clauses, one that tackled so-called "home rule" of local school districts, and another that provides for a "safe, secure and high quality system of free public schools."
The court's decision blocking DeSantis' executive order will take effect next week, when a written ruling will be recorded in the case.
The governor's office says it is confident that the decision will be overturned under case law established in DeSantis v. Florida Education Association, in which a teachers' federation challenged a state order incentivizing school districts to reopen amid the pandemic. An appellate panel last year ruled in favor of DeSantis in that case, characterizing the dispute as a political debate outside the court's purview.
"We are used to the Leon County Circuit Court not following the law and getting reversed on appeal, which is exactly what happened last year in the school reopening case," the governor's office said Friday.
The plaintiffs' counsel in the school-mask litigation have argued that the two cases are miles apart. Among other distinctions, DeSantis v. Florida Education Association dealt with financial perks for school districts, as opposed to harsh punishment imposed upon them, the attorneys argue.
"The governor's office is hanging its hat on that case. We don't think there's an analogous set of facts in our case here," attorney Charles Gallagher said in an interview last week.
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