(CN) — A Florida judge said on Wednesday that public schools in the Sunshine State can now require students and staff to wear masks to prevent Covid-19 transmission.
Leon County Circuit Judge John C. Cooper ruled from the bench on Wednesday that an order he issued two weeks ago should take effect immediately, preventing the state from enforcing its ban on mask mandates in schools.
Wednesday’s decision lifts an automatic stay that was briefly applied to Cooper’s order as an appeals court in Tallahassee works to determine the legality of the ban.
It comes in response to a legal challenge brought by parents and teachers against Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who they claim overstepped his authority by banning mask mandates through an executive order.
During a remote hearing Wednesday morning, Cooper said he was presented with sufficient evidence that wearing masks provides some protection for students in school settings, especially for those under 12 who can’t be vaccinated yet.
"We are not in normal times. We are in a pandemic. We have children that can’t be protected by vaccination,” the judge said. “Children are at risk and they provide at least some protection by masking.”
Because issuing a stay on the order may harm students and their families, Cooper refused to do so.
"It's undisputed that the delta variant is far more infectious than the prior version of the virus, and that children are more susceptible to the delta variant than to the form from a year ago," he said.
That case will now be decided by the First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee. Cooper suggested Wednesday that the case might then go to the Florida Supreme Court.
On July 30, DeSantis signed an order that barred public school districts from implementing mask mandates, despite recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that advise public mask-wearing.
State education officials have threatened to withhold funding from districts that defy the order.
The Florida Board of Education voted last month to penalize the Alachua and Broward county public school districts for requiring masks in their school buildings.
According to the CDC, August was Florida’s deadliest month of the Covid-19 pandemic so far.
Following the executive order, 13 school boards in Florida chose to adopt mandates with a parental opt-out system for medical reasons only.
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