Face Masks

The U.S. Department of Education has asked an administrative judge to block the state from slashing federal aid money sent to the Broward and Alachua school districts over their mask mandates.

Joseph Ladapo said he cannot communicate clearly with a mask and offered to meet outside with a state senator who has breast cancer.

“What occurred in Senator Polsky’s office was unprofessional and will not be tolerated in the Senate," Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson wrote in a memo.

It's in response to the state saying it will withhold the salaries of school board members in counties that have issued mask mandates.

President Wilton Simpson sent a memo to senators saying it was disappointing to learn of the incident at the office of Democratic state Sen. Tina Polsky.

After hearing testimony for two days, Judge Brian Newman said he could issue his ruling on the case involving six school boards in the next two weeks.

Six school districts are suing the state and say the Department of Health’s basis for issuing a rule giving parents the right to opt out of mask mandates is wrong.

DeSantis wants to act against businesses that issue coronavirus vaccine mandates.

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.