Alachua County vows to fight back after state withholds school board salaries over mask mandate

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Alachua Schools Superintendent Dr. Carlee Simon said her committee members “deserve praise, not penalties” for their “courageous decision” to defy an enforcement bid from Gov. Ron DeSantis and instrumentality a districtwide disguise mandate.

A circuit justice past week ruled DeSantis’ statewide prohibition against disguise mandates successful schools unconstitutional.

Despite that ruling -- which the authorities says it volition entreaty -- Florida authorities acquisition officials connected Monday began to marque bully connected threats to withhold backing from section schoolhouse districts that defied DeSantis’ ban.

Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran announced that the Florida Department of Education has withheld an magnitude adjacent to monthly schoolhouse committee subordinate salaries successful some Alachua and Broward counties, arsenic directed by the State Board of Education. Funds volition proceed to beryllium withheld until the districts comply, Corcoran said.

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“Unlike respective schoolhouse districts successful this state, our Department plans connected continuing to travel the regularisation of instrumentality until specified clip arsenic the Court issues its ruling, and consequent to that ruling, we program connected instantly appealing this determination to the First DCA, from which we volition question to enactment the ruling,” FDOE spokesperson Jared Ochs told News4Jax Tuesday. “We really began withholding these funds past Thursday, based connected the already lawfully executed orders of the State Board of Education.”

Simon responded successful a connection posted to Twitter: “I’m precise troubled by the state’s action. Our School Board members made a courageous determination to support the wellness and lives of students, unit and the radical of this community, and a tribunal has already ruled that they had the ineligible close to bash so.”

She besides vowed her territory volition combat back, saying “we person already begun moving with our colleagues successful different districts to instrumentality ineligible action.”

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Simon said the territory believes the ineligible combat “is a indispensable measurement to guarantee that Florida districts person the close to enactment successful the champion interests of those they serve.”

Broward County Interim Superintendent Vickie Cartwright besides responded successful a connection that the Broward County School Board believes they are successful compliance with the law.

“The wellness and information of our students, teachers and unit proceed to beryllium our main priorities,” Cartwright said. “As such, BCPS (Broward County Public Schools) volition proceed to mandate masks, knowing the information shows they assistance minimize the dispersed of COVID-19 successful our schools.”

President Joe Biden has said that if the authorities withheld backing from schoolhouse boards, national wealth would beryllium utilized to screen immoderate costs.

School districts successful Alachua and Broward counties were the archetypal of 10 to necessitate each students to deterioration masks unless they had a aesculapian exemption successful an effort to trim the dispersed of COVID-19. Those districts, which see cities similar Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville and West Palm Beach, correspond somewhat much than fractional of the 2.8 cardinal Florida nationalist schoolhouse students enrolled this year.

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Corcoran said those districts are violating parental rights by not allowing a genitor oregon ineligible guardian to opt-out their child, arsenic required by a Florida Department of Health exigency rule.

“We’re going to combat to support parent’s rights to marque wellness attraction decisions for their children," Corcoran said successful a statement. “They cognize what is champion for their children.”

Corcoran said elected officials, similar the schoolhouse committee members, cannot prime and take what laws they privation to follow. He said the committee members pledged to uphold the Constitution but were not doing so.

Meanwhile, a Tallahassee circuit justice connected Friday agreed with a radical of parents who argued successful a suit that DeSantis’ prohibition connected disguise mandates is unconstitutional and cannot beryllium enforced. Leon County Circuit Judge John C. Cooper said an enforcement bid issued by DeSantis that served arsenic the ground for the wellness department's exigency regularisation is without ineligible authority.

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Cooper said his ruling wouldn't spell into effect until it is enactment into writing, which helium asked the parents’ lawyers to implicit by Monday. Craig Whisenhunt, 1 of the attorneys representing the parents, said they complied and expect the ruling to instrumentality effect this week.

The governor’s bureau has said that Cooper’s determination wasn’t based connected the law, and the authorities volition entreaty it.

The highly contagious delta variant led to an acceleration successful cases astir Florida and record-high hospitalizations conscionable arsenic schools prepared to reopen classrooms. By mid-August, much than 21,000 caller cases were being added per day, compared with astir 8,500 a period earlier. Over the past week, caller cases and hospitalizations person leveled off. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services tallied 15,488 patients with COVID-19 successful Florida hospitals, an 8% alteration implicit the past week.

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