Ryan Dailey

The state’s crackdown on the school boards relied on the Sept. 22 emergency rule, which said decisions to opt out of mask requirements are at the “sole discretion” of parents or guardians.

The proposal being weighed Wednesday looks to build on curriculum standards for civics, government and other subject areas adopted by the state board in July.

Leon County’s hefty penalty is the latest effort by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration to prohibit vaccine requirements on employees.

The crackdown intensified the battle over whether school districts can set student mask requirements, a debate that is also playing out in courts.

The districts targeted for potential penalties are Alachua, Brevard, Broward, Duval, Hillsborough, Indian River, Leon, Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach and Sarasota counties.

The statewide exams in English-language arts and math, known as the FSA, are given annually to students in third through 10th grades.

A Leon County circuit judge on Wednesday again blocked Gov. Ron DeSantis’ executive order that seeks to bar school mask mandates.

Cooper’s ruling hinged largely on a new state law dubbed the “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” which deals with parents’ right to control education and health decisions for their children.

Counties with such mask requirements now represent about half of Florida’s 2.8 million students.

Counties with such mask requirements now represent about half of Florida’s 2.8 million students.

As the legal battle plays out, eight school districts as of Tuesday afternoon had voted to require masks for students.

The plaintiffs’ lawyers called on a University of South Florida professor who specializes in disease control, to reinforce the argument that the delta variant increases the need for students to wear masks in classrooms.

In his letters, Corcoran wrote that requiring doctors’ notes to opt out is “inconsistent” with the health department’s rule.

Corcoran reiterated DeSantis’ position that parents should be able to decide whether children wear masks.

DeSantis’ spokeswoman Christina Pushaw said that districts requiring a doctor’s note for students to be excused from wearing a mask are not following the governor’s order.

“The distance this state will go to not only defund public education but to fulfill a politically motivated agenda about masks.”

Most universities began publishing plans for a return to normalcy around the time the university system’s Board of Governors issued guidance in May.

The event was held as hospitals across the state are seeing sharp increases in COVID-19 patients because of the delta variant of the coronavirus and lagging vaccination rates.

“This marks the first time that an adult company has looked to partner with NCAA athletes.”