Court orders Alachua County School Board to show cause why parents’ petition should not be granted

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

The First District Court of Appeal has ordered the Alachua County School Board, Alachua Superintendent Carlee Simon, the Duval County School Board, and Duval Superintendent Diana Greene to show cause why a petition for Writ of Mandamus should not be granted to the petitioners, parents from Alachua and Duval Counties. The deadline for responding to the order is October 8, and the petitioners may file a reply on or before October 11.

The parents, represented by attorneys Jeff Childers and Nick Whitney, filed the Emergency Petition on Friday, asking the court to order the Alachua County School Board and Duval County School Board to follow the Florida Department of Health’s emergency rules on COVID-19 quarantine policies and parental opt-out of masking policies.

The petition asks the Court to require the superintendents and School Boards to comply with the emergency rule, “particularly to the extent of providing parents with an opt-out to the School Boards’ mask policies at parents’ sole discretion, and allowing parents to send their healthy (non-symptomatic) children to school at their own discretion.”