The mandate to reopen schools across Florida will remain in effect after an appeals court ruled on Monday in favor of state education officials, as multiple lawsuits challenging the order’s constitutionality move forward.
Florida’s First District Court of Appeal imposed a stay on an earlier ruling from a county circuit judge, who issued a temporary injunction against an emergency order that required the state’s public schools to offer “brick and mortar” classes five days per week. The Florida Education Association, which brought the lawsuit, argued that the order violates the Florida Constitution’s guarantee of “safe” and “secure” public schools by forcing students and teachers back into classrooms amid the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic.
