The new date is Nov 16, 2021.
The Florida state board of education voted Tuesday to restore funding to school districts that had disobeyed the state by imposing mask mandates now that their mask orders have been lifted.
Students arrive at Sessums Elementary School.
The Associated Press.
The Florida Education Commissioner and the agency's legal counsel said at a board meeting Tuesday that Alachua and Broward counties would have school funding restored after both districts said they would allow parents to opt out of the school's mask mandates.
The only school districts that had their funding stopped were Alachua County and the one in Broward, both of which imposed strict mask mandates despite the state prohibiting them from doing so.
The state docked an amount equal to what the schools received in federal grants from the U.S. Department of Education to make up for lost state funding.
If the federal government doesn't drop the complaint against the Florida Department of Education, the two men will fight it in court.
If the U.S. Department of Education moves forward with the complaint, they may try to stop the Project SAFE grants from being given to Alachua and Broward counties.
The U.S. Department of Education has not yet responded to a request for comment on the legal complaint.
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If the federal government does not drop the case, the cease and desist order will be heard by an administrative judge on December 10. While the agency is restoring funding to the school districts, it will be monitoring their compliance and will not hesitate to take enforcement action if necessary.
Chief critic.
The U.S. Department of Education criticized the state of Florida for its decision to deny funding for the Project SAFE grants. According to the agency, Florida violated the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, which prohibits states from taking federal funds into account when determining how much state aid schools receive, by holding the funds back.
The key background.
Florida is one of 10 states that have policies in place that block or severely restrict schools from imposing mask mandates, but the state's policy has been controversial as the Covid-19 cases surged at the start of the school year. The Florida Board of Education and Gov. Ron DeSantis have held that parents should be able to decide whether or not their child should wear a mask in school. The mask mandate ban was put back in effect by an appeals court after a lower court judge tried to block it. The US Department of Education has launched civil rights investigations into Florida and other states to determine if the policies that ban school mask mandates violate the rights of students with disabilities.
All Florida school districts lifted their mask mandates after covid cases fell.
The Biden administration wants to stop Florida from holding school funds overmask mandates.
The Florida School Board has imposed mask mandates on schools.
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