Florida withholds school officials' pay over mask mandates

Florida is escalating the battle over masks in schools by taking aim at administrators, with the state's Department of Education on Monday saying it is withholding pay for school board members in two districts that are requiring facial coverings.

The move comes after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis suffered a court loss over his executive order that bans mask requirements in schools. In his ruling on Friday, Leon County Circuit Judge John C. Cooper agreed with a group of parents who claimed in a lawsuit that DeSantis' order is unconstitutional and cannot be enforced.  On Monday, however, Florida Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran said in a statement that the agency was withholding the monthly salaries of school board members in Alachua and Broward County, home to Gainesville and Fort Lauderdale, respectively, over their mask mandates. Corcoran framed the issue as one of parental rights, even as Florida's COVID-19 cases reach a pandemic peak of more than 20,000 cases per day.