face mask

ban on mask mandates. Leon was one of the last districts in the state to maintain a mandatory mask requirement for pre-kindergarten through 8th graders. The district repealed the mandate last month.

The State Board of Education has scheduled a meeting next week to consider a U.S. Department of Education complaint seeking to prevent Florida from withholding funds from school districts that received federal money to cover school board members’ salaries.

School boards have moved quickly to appeal an administrative law judge’s decision that upheld a Florida Department of Health rule aimed at preventing student mask requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among their objections, the Department of Education's move to withold the salaries of school boards that impose school mask mandates

An administrative law judge is weighing a Department of Health rule governing school mask mandates. The two-day trial kicked off Thursday in Tallahassee with the districts arguing the Department overstepped its authority when it issued the rule, and the state saying those claims are overblown.

An administrative law judge won’t throw out a challenge to a Department of Health rule attempting to stop local school boards from issuing mask mandates. Six school boards are seeking to overturn the order amid an ongoing fight with Gov. Ron DeSantis. The court is slated to hear the case Thursday morning.

Republicans are gearing up to fight vaccine and mask mandates imposed by local governments. Sen. Keith Perry's, R-Gainesville, proposal comes amid lawsuits between state and local governments over such measures.

The Leon County School District has dropped its mask requirements for students in grades Pre-K through 8th. Leon Superintendent Rocky Hanna says he’s following through on his promise to parents to revisit the policy when positivity rates fell.

The State Board of Education on Thursday ratcheted up discipline against eight county school boards that have maintained student mask mandates to try to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The Leon County School District along with 10 others are facing potential fines over their mandatory mask policies. The State Board of education is slated to take up findings that the districts have, or are, violating the state’s effort to ban mandatory masking.