An administrative law judge on Friday scheduled a hearing to start Sept. 24 in challenges to a Florida Department of Health rule aimed at preventing schools from requiring students to wear masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Judge Brian Newman consolidated four similar cases that have been filed by school districts and groups including the Florida State Conference of the NAACP. The latest case was filed Thursday by the Leon County School Board and Superintendent Rocky Hanna.
The Miami-Dade, Alachua, Broward and Orange County districts also are challenging the department rule. In part, the challenges contend the Department of Health overstepped its legal authority last month in issuing the rule, which was an outgrowth of a July 30 executive order by Gov. Ron DeSantis targeting school mask mandates.
The cases also argue that the rule is “arbitrary and capricious” and goes against the department’s role in preventing the spread of diseases.
“The DOH (Department of Health) rule states its purported purpose is ‘to encourage a safe and effective in-person learning environment for Florida’s schoolchildren during the upcoming school year; to prevent the unnecessary removal of students from school; and to safeguard the rights of parents and their children.’ Despite its title and purported justifications, the DOH rule does not require students, schools, or school districts to do anything specific to control COVID-19 in school settings; nor does it prohibit students, schools, or school districts from doing anything specific to control COVID-19 in school settings,” the Leon County challenge said.
The rule allows parents to “opt-out” of requirements that students wear masks. But with the delta variant of the coronavirus causing a major surge in COVID-19 cases during the past two months, the Leon, Miami-Dade, Alachua, Broward and Orange school boards — and several others across the state — have bucked the rule and required students to wear masks unless they have documented medical reasons.
This article appears in Sep 9-15, 2021.
