Judge Rules On Florida Governor's Ban On School Mask Mandates

A Florida judge ruled against Governor Ron DeSantis' attempt to ban local officials from enacting mask mandates. The ruling allows school districts to require students to wear masks while in the classroom.

DeSantis signed an executive order that said parents should have the final say over whether their children should wear masks while in school. When several districts defied the order, he threatened to cut their funding.

"I'm a parent — parents' rights are very important," Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper said. "But they're not without some reasonable limitation, depending upon safety, reasonableness, and a compelling state need."

Cooper said that DeSantis' order is "without legal authority" and that the state's "Parents' Bill of Rights" does not prevent school officials from implementing mask mandates.

"The law expressly permits school boards to adopt policies regarding the health care of students, such as a mask mandate, even if a parent disagrees," Cooper said.

The day before Cooper's ruling, DeSantis vowed to appeal the decision if it went against him.

So far, ten school districts in the state have defied the order and put a mask mandate in place. Those districts represent about half of the 2.8 million students in the state.