The ruling by a state court upholding the masking requirements at Florida’s largest school districts is a victory for public health, science and the rule of law. Though the court battle is hardly over, the ruling buys school districts valuable time as they struggle to keep their campuses open and safe amid a new surge in coronavirus infections.
Gov. Ron DeSantis and Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran should stop pandering to the anti-mask fringe and start looking out for children. Their battle against the school districts is reckless public policy and a loser legally and politically.
Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper ruled Friday that DeSantis cherrypicked the language of a new state law in moving to strike down mandatory masking requirements at 10 Florida school districts, including Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, Broward and Alachua counties. In recent weeks, the districts have tightened masking rules to counter a spike of infections and cases of isolation and quarantine involving thousands of Florida school children, teachers and other staff. DeSantis and Corcoran maintain the mandates violate Florida’s so-called “Parents’ Bill of Rights” law, which DeSantis signed in June, and which provides that government agencies “may not infringe on the fundamental rights of a parent to direct the upbringing, education, health care and mental health” of a minor child.
But the judge ruled that DeSantis’ administration ignored a broad provision in the law which allows parental rights to be nudged aside for “reasonable” and “narrowly tailored” government measures intended “to achieve a compelling state interest.” In the case of masks, Cooper found the school districts were acting in response to rising infections in their communities. He found the district mask policies — which are temporary, affect mostly interior spaces and include a medical opt-out — comported with the law requiring they be reasonable and narrowly drawn. And the policies are in line with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which finds masks a valuable means of protecting children in the classroom, especially since vaccines are unavailable to anyone 11 and under.
The ruling is powerful because it relies on a verbatim reading of the law, not an interpretation of it. And Cooper rounded out the ruling with much-deserved criticism of the misinformation DeSantis has peddled to denigrate masks as public health tool. That should help separate fact from fantasy as this case and others make their way through the courts. Incredibly, but true to form, Corcoran responded to the court’s finding that the state moved unlawfully by threatening to punish school districts for requiring masks. Corcoran announced Monday that the state Department of Education had withheld funds from the Alachua and Broward county school districts in amounts equal to school board members’ monthly salaries as punishment for the mask mandates.
School districts are right to disregard Corcoran’s bullying. Since Friday’s ruling, two more districts — Brevard and Lee counties — have imposed mask mandates, and at least three more Florida districts are poised to consider similar measures this week. A new Quinnipiac University poll of Florida adults shows majority (60 percent) support for mandatory masking in schools, and 69 percent say it is a bad idea for the governor to withhold school leaders’ pay in retribution.
Tallahassee is detached from reality. Last week, Florida’s COVID-19 deaths surpassed previous 7-day average highs, breaking through 200 deaths a day. New infections have climbed almost without interruption every week for the past 10 weeks. And the state’s latest weekly report, as of Friday, shows that positivity rates are highest among Floridians under 19 years old. Case levels for school-aged children far exceed the statewide average and are double or more the levels of Floridians over 50. And a presentation today to the Hillsborough County Commission will show that elementary school-age children (5 to 10 years old) have particularly driven the outbreak among young people in Hillsborough.
How can anyone argue against this backdrop that Hillsborough and other school districts with mask policies aren’t doing exactly what the parental rights law envisions — taking action “reasonable and necessary to achieve a compelling state interest”? School boards and superintendents should continue addressing local conditions and putting students, teachers and staff first.
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