Despite a state court ruling clearing the way for school mask mandates, Florida education officials announced Monday they would withhold funding from two school districts that were among the first to adopt universal in-school masking: Alachua and Broward.

“The withholding of funds will continue monthly until each school board complies with state law and rule,’’ Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran wrote on Monday.

The decision from Corcoran makes good on a threat from Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who had said he would dock the pay of any school officials who defied his ban on requiring masking in schools. According to the Miami Herald, school board members in Alachua County make $40,000 per year and in Broward County, $46,000.

Last week, Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper ruled DeSantis’ ban on mask mandates unconstitutional and unenforceable. Eleven of the state’s 67 school districts have voted to implement mask mandates—more than half the state’s students are now enrolled in schools with universal masking requirements.

The move by DeSantis’ handpicked state Board of Education is the latest in on an ongoing dispute over masking between local school boards and the Republican governor, who has made it his life’s ambition to kneecap any attempt by local officials to stop the spread of COVID-19. Even though pandemic-related hospitalizations in Florida have begun to decline over the last several days, ICUs across the state are still at 95% capacity and at least nine hospitals in central Florida have run out of bed space, according to local ABC affiliate WFTV-9.

President Joe Biden and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona have sided with the right of local school boards to decide the safest way to return to in-person schooling. Cardona said last week that states couldn’t deny federal funding to public schools that implement mask mandates. 

“I spoke to the superintendents of those two communities,” Cardona said Sunday on Meet the Press of Broward and Alachua officials. “I let them know that we have their back. And yes, they can draw down on the [federal] funds that were promised to them so they can safely reopen schools.”

On Monday, the Department of Education opened investigations into five states that have banned in-school masking requirements. Florida was not among them because recent court rulings had seemingly blocked enforcement of the ban. The move by the DeSantis administration to block pay despite last week’s court ruling could trigger a federal inquiry, an option federal education officials kept on the table. 

School administrators in Broward and Alachua aren’t backing down from their initial decision. Both argue they are fulfilling their constitutional requirement to provide students with a safe learning environment.  

In a statement, Broward County Public Schools Interim Superintendent Dr. Vickie L. Cartwright said, “The health and safety of our students, teachers and staff continue to be our main priorities. As such, BCPS will continue to mandate masks, knowing the data shows they help minimize the spread of COVID-19 in our schools.”