School reopening order upheld by state appeals court

An appeals court on Friday issued a win for state education leaders, reversing a lower court ruling and declaring therewas nothing improper about the state order that pushed campuses to be open inAugust for students whose parents wanted them back in “brick and mortar” schools.

The ruling by a panel of First District Court of Appeal was not surprising; in lateAugust it had put a hold on that same lower court’s decision, saying it expected the state would prevail on appeal.

The appeals court judges said in Friday’s opinion that Florida’s controversial order left school reopening decisions to local school boards while giving them funding advantages if they made in-person classes an option in August.

“Nothing in the Emergency Order forces school districts to reopen schools for in-person instruction. Nothing in the order requires a student to choose in-person instruction. And nothing in the order forces a teacher to return to the classroom,” they wrote.

The statewide teachers union, which had sued to challenge the reopening order, said it would appeal, adding that the appellate court “got it wrong” with Friday’s ruling.

“Educators pushed back against state bullying and won a significant victory in the lower court,” said Andrew Spar, president of the Florida Education Association, in a statement. “We will continue our fight for all the people in Florida’s public schools.”

But as almost all of Florida’s school districts opened by the end of August, it is not clear what impact an appeal would have. The three large school districts in South Florida opened later because of the prevalence of the coronavirus in their counties. But they, too, are all open now for those students whose parents want them on campus.

The judges on the appeals court panel said issuing the orderwaswithin the rights of Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran and Gov. Ron DeSantis and made sense given the benefits of in-person classes to students and working parents.

The Leon County Circuit Courtwhoruled against the state in late August made a “political” decision and had wrongly ruled the reopening order was unconstitutional, the appeals court judges said. The circuit judge had “ignored the plans made by school districts to reopen, the preferences of parents and students, and evidence that prolonged closure of schools also harms students,” Friday’s ruling said.

Statewide, more than 60% of public schools students are attending in-person classes while the rest do online lessons, state officials have said.

The education association was joined by several Orange County teachers and a local mother in its legal challenge against the reopening order.

They argued the order, signed by Corcoran on July 6, required public schools to open inAugust for five-daya-week classes even if that wasn’t safe because if they didn’t, they risked losing money for children who attended school online instead of on campus. The Orange County school district, which opened campuses Aug. 21, said it could have lost $22.5 million amonth if it did not comply.