Judge to rule on future of Florida’s school mask mandate ban

An administrative law judge will have up to two weeks to issue a decision after a hearing ended Friday in a challenge by six school boards to a state Department of Health rule designed to prevent student mask requirements.

The challenge was filed by school boards in Alachua, Broward, Duval, Miami-Dade, Orange and Leon counties, which are among eight boards facing state financial penalties after adopting policies that required students to wear masks to try to prevent the spread of COVID-19.…