Parents' lawsuit against Jacksonville Episcopal School for mask policy permanently dismissed

[TexasTowelie]

A lawsuit filed by a group of parents against Episcopal School of Jacksonville regarding face masks has been permanently dismissed.

Last month at least 10 parents said the school's COVID-19 policy — requiring unvaccinated students to wear masks — usurped Gov. Ron DeSantis' Parent's Bill of Rights, banning universal mask mandates and "COVID-19 harassment," a term used to define special treatment against a student in connection to rules on masking, testing and quarantining.

But this week, court records show that Duval County Senior Circuit Court Judge Robert M. Foster agreed with attorneys representing the school that the Parent's Bill of Rights doesn't impact or represent private schools' policies.

The legal team representing the parents suing argued that the blanket language in the bill, "any other institution," included enforcement in private schools. Episcopal's attorneys disagreed, adding that the bill is specifically centered around governmental agencies, not private entities or religious entities — Episcopal School of Jacksonville is. private religious school.

Read more: https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/education/2021/09/23/parents-mask-policy-lawsuit-against-episcopal-school-dismissed/5834464001/

[tanyev]

1. Um, wasn't Florida giving vouchers so parents could flee public schools

that had mask mandates? Which means that private schools in districts with mask mandates were not obligated to follow those mandates. Which conversely means that private schools who wanted to mandate masks were not obligated by Gov. DeSantis’s sociopathic ban. I wondered at the time whether parents who wanted masks could get a voucher to attend a private school that required masks.