face masks

The measure is a response to local government efforts to side-step state law.

The Florida School Board Association says a letter from its national affiliate letter to the U.S. Department of Justice is the cause.

The bill, filed by Sen. Keith Perry, R-Gainesville, would put the prohibition on school mask requirements into state law.

Tensions have run high at school board meetings around the nation in recent months.

Attorneys for the Department of Health said in a motion posted Monday that the school boards in Miami-Dade, Broward, Orange, Duval, Alachua and Leon counties do not have legal standing to challenge the rule.

The state keeps coming after school districts over mask mandates. School districts are going after the state in court. Plus, redrawing political districts across the state.

They are seeking an injunction against the executive order while an appeal of a lower-court ruling moves forward.

One superintendent asks the Board of Education to take his pay, too, but was refused. Others argued their strict mandates were needed to protect students.

Hillsborough and Sarasota are among three school districts that avoided being punished by recently changing their mask policies.

Before the Sarasota County School Board's repeal, masks were required if the positivity rate rose to about 10 percent, and optional if it fell below 8 percent for three consecutive days.

Two districts revised mask mandates to allow parental opt-outs, but others aren't backing down. Education Commission Richard Corcoran has now suggested pulling funds equal to federal grants awarded to cover the penalties of noncompliant boards.

The Hillsborough County School Board voted to remove the medical opt-out clause and give parents the choice of whether their children wear masks.