In a victory for state of Florida education leaders, an appeals court says that the state’s school reopening order did not force students back to campus, nor teachers back into classrooms, and should remain in effect while the lawsuits challenging its constitutionality move through the court system.
The Orlando Sentinel reports that the ruling by the First District Court of Appeal put on hold a decision issued last week by a circuit court judge in Tallahassee.
That judge ruled in favor of teachers who argued in a lawsuit said that the state’s July reopening order was unconstitutional because it required Florida’s public schools to open “brick and mortar” campuses five days a week starting in August.
But appeal court judges say they expect the state will win the case eventually, so they put the lower court’s ruling on hold during appeals, saying it had “caused confusion and uncertainty for students, parents, and teachers.”
Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, who signed the reopening order, says the appeal court ruling is a “great decision.”
His reopening order, he says, gave parents choices, and more than 40% opted for online options.
The Florida Education Association — the statewide teachers union and one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuits — called the appeal court ruling disappointing but says it will continue to press its case.
“The reopening order is still unconstitutional, and local districts still should be allowed to make the best and safest decisions for everyone in their schools,” says Andrew Spar, the union’s vice president.
In the appeal court ruling, the judges wrote that nothing in the state’s reopening order “requires any teacher or any student to return for in-person instruction at a brick-and-mortar school.”
Parents could choose that option for their children, but also had online options. If teachers were assigned to teach in-person that was an issue between them and their “employing school districts,” not the state’s leaders, the ruling says.
