On Monday, a judge ruled in favor of Florida’s largest teachers union stating that DeSantis’ order to require schools to teach students in the classroom during the COVID-19 pandemic is unconstitutional.
The decision comes after the Florida Education Association filed a lawsuit against Gov. DeSantis that said his order was reckless and unsafe.
Now, according to the judge, the order states that the day-to-day decision to open or close a school in Florida should, and must, always be the decision of local officials — school boards, etc. The injunction states that school boards can make the decision to close schools without penalty.
School districts can reopen brick-and-mortar schools, but parents can decide to send their child to school or not and schools will be able to choose if they want to offer full services.
Attorney’s, along with DeSantis, argued that COVID-19 is not serious enough to keep schools closed.
Health officials were supposed to assist in advising whether or not schools should remain closed or reopen, however, during the hearing health officials said they were ordered by DeSantis’ office to “keep quiet about the issue.”