Florida school mask battle heads to court

A legal battle over Gov. Ron DeSantis’ July 30 executive order seeking to block local school districts from requiring students to wear masks will move forward Thursday.

Attorneys for a group of parents filed a lawsuit last week in Leon County challenging the executive order. 

Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper held an online conference in the case, hearing from lawyers on both sides to consider a state motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

In the crosshairs is the governor's rule banning school districts from implementing any new mask mandates amid a spike in cases of the COVID-19 delta variant.

Parents from Orange, Alachua, Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, and Pinellas counties are asking the court to block the rule and let school districts decide for themselves whether students should be masking up to protect each other. 

DeSantis, Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, the Florida Department of Education, and the State Board of Education are named as defendants in the 25-page complaint. 

RELATED: Florida adds nearly 24,000 new COVID-19 cases 

The judge said he wants this wrapped up quickly. The next hearing in the case is set for 2 p.m. next Thursday.

"I want to get to the point," Cooper said, "I want to take the time to read it, I'm going to give you a ruling, this is an expedited proceeding and it doesn't mean I'm going to sit around for 2-3 weeks trying to make my mind up. I'm going to hear what you say, I'm going to consider it, and then I'm going to verbally rule."

A separate lawsuit challenging DeSantis executive order on masks during the COVID-19 pandemic has been filed in federal court in South Florida by parents of children with disabilities. The lawsuit contends that DeSantis’ executive order discriminates against disabled students.

The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.

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