Gov. Ron DeSantis’ executive order stopping local school districts from imposing mask mandates to deal with the spike of COVID-19 cases in the state has prompted parents to seek an injunction against the order.
Twelve parents from around the state filed the lawsuit Aug. 6 in the Second Judicial Circuit Court in Leon County, arguing that the actions of defendants DeSantis, Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran and the Florida Board of Education are arbitrary, unconstitutional and pose a threat to students’ safety.
“Absent the requested relief, Florida’s students risk exposure according to medical professionals that will certainly lead to contracting COVID-19 and transmitting it to others,” the complaint states. “Students will become sick and potentially die as a result of the failure to follow the mandatory masking requirements of the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and the American Academy of Pediatrics.”
An article published by the Wall Street Journal this week, however, concluded that there’s little hard evidence that masks reduce coronavirus transmission in children and that masks may impede learning in some cases.
The ban on mask mandates in schools is needed to protect the rights of parents to decide whether or not their children should wear masks during the Delta variant outbreak, DeSantis said when he issued the order. The Governor’s Office did not respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs argue that the order means that their children will be exposed to unmasked students in the classroom, putting them at risk of contracting the virus since the COVID-19 vaccines have not been approved for those under 12. In addition, some plaintiffs contend that students with previous medical conditions, such as severe asthma, are at increased risk to suffer harm.
“The individual school boards are entitled to conduct their affairs the way they wish and not have the governor or any executive officer impose upon that,” St. Petersburg attorney Charles Gallagher, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the parents, told the Florida Record. “The Florida Constitution has strict entitlements that school boards can govern themselves.”
Interest about the case is high, according to Gallagher, and a case-management hearing has been scheduled Friday afternoon by the parties involved.
“We think there will be quite a bit of attention to this from school districts as well as school board members,” he said.
The issues in the complaint cannot be resolved with monetary damages, so the goal is to vacate the executive order, according to the lawsuit.