TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — An administrative judge ruled that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration can ban public school face mask mandates that don't let parents opt out their kids.
The ruling Friday had been anticipated after six Florida school districts challenged the state's rule, which gave parents authority over whether their students covered their faces in the classroom.
Those districts, including Alachua, Broward, Duval, Leon, Miami-Dade and Orange, filed a notice of appeal challenging the Department of Health's "emergency rule as an improper exercise of delegated rulemaking authority."
The South Florida Sun Sentinel reports school leaders challenged the Sept. 22 rule by the Department of Health that required districts to give parents the right to opt their children out of mask mandates and decide whether to quarantine a child who has been exposed to COVID-19 but shows no symptoms.
Districts were fined thousands of dollars for not following the state's rules.
In his ruling, Judge Brian Newman wrote not only is the state justified in making emergency rules, but the rule in question also is not unsafe for children. He said the risk of death or serious illness lies overwhelmingly with older people, and it was "unproven" that parents' opt-out provisions would make it more likely for children to spread the virus to others.
The districts, the judge wrote, "failed to prove that the Emergency Rule Opt-Out provisions facilitate the spread of COVID-19 in schools."
"On the contrary, the evidence admitted in this case established that the Emergency Rule Opt-Out provisions strike the right balance by ensuring that the protocols that govern the control of COVID-19 in schools go no further than what is required to keep children safe and in school."
Christina Pushaw, the governor's spokesperson, tweeted the ruling was a "massive win for parents' rights in Florida!"
"In September, [State Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo's] rule ended forced quarantine of healthy kids & reiterated FL's ban on forced-masking. 6 school boards sued to challenge the rule. DISMISSED! First ruling on legal merits of our rule. And we won!" she said.