A schedule is set for mediation in a lawsuit over a state order requiring schools to start in-person classes this month. The state is demanding that all schools open or faces financial consequences. Ron Meyer is the attorney for the Florida Education Association, a statewide teachers’ union. He told Judge Charles Dodson during court Thursday he believes reopening will lead to bad results.
“There can be no doubt that just rushing to open public schools here in Florida, brick and mortar, is going to create the same type of mess we are seeing across the country where you open them and then you end up closing them because there’s COVID transmission being identified," said Meyer.
The FEA wants the state to allow school districts to decide what date to open.
Dodson will hear a motion to dismiss the case Friday. If he doesn’t dismiss, he’s ordered both sides to finish mediating by midnight Tuesday, August 18. A potential injunction hearing is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday if no agreement can be made.
