TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Less than 24 hours after a judge sided with the state’s largest teachers union and ruled that district leaders should get to decide whether or not schools should open, attorneys for the state of Florida have filed a notice indicating that they plan to appeal the decision.
The filing of the notice means an automatic stay will be granted on the judge’s order, according to the notice. However, the Florida Education Association has filed an emergency motion asking that the stay be vacated.
Attorneys for the Florida Education Association presented arguments last week saying that it’s unsafe for campuses to be open amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Attorneys representing Gov. Ron DeSantis, Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran and the other defendants argued that teachers had options if they didn’t want to return to a physical classroom setting.
A Florida Department of Education emergency order requiring that brick-and-mortar schools open in August was at the center of the weekslong legal battle.
Leon County Circuit Judge Charles Dodson, siding with the union, adjusted the emergency order to say that day-to-day decisions to open or close a school must always rest locally with school boards, issuing a temporary injunction to allow school boards to make safety determinations without financial penalty.
The judge’s ruling was ultimately an edit of the governor’s original order, striking out portions that were considered unconstitutional, including the mandate that schools must open in August.
In Dodson’s decision, he said the ultimate purpose of the order was to provide guidance and permission for schools to reopen and he worked to preserve those elements.
In Central Florida, school districts leaders said that as of Monday night, they didn’t intend to make changes to their school reopening plans.
Orange County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Barbara Jenkins said the ruling could be discussed at the school board’s Tuesday night meeting.
“Here’s the thing: I think they will be hard-pressed to make an immediate decision because there may be a stay that comes down, and of course, there may be an appeal that comes down, so we want to be well advised before making an immediate reaction that might then be overturned,” Jenkins said.
DeSantis made it known Monday night that his attorneys were planning to appeal, while Corcoran asked parents to reach out to the FEA to ask the union to drop the “frivolous lawsuit.”