Brevard School Board moves toward settlement in 'Sofia' masking case despite court victory
The Brevard County School Board on Tuesday moved toward a settlement in a lawsuit over a student with Down syndrome who came home with a mask tied to her face during a school mask mandate in 2021, despite a major court victory in the case.
The board largely prevailed earlier this year in a $100 million federal lawsuit filed by the family of then 7-year-old Sofia Bezerra, a special needs student at Ocean Breeze Elementary in Indian Harbour Beach, who came home from school in October 2021 with a mask tied behind her head with a shoestring-like cord.
Attorneys for the family filed the federal suit in December 2021, accusing her teachers of child abuse and the School Board of negligence and violating her civil rights. Former Superintendent Mark Mullins and the three Board members who voted for the mask mandate — Jennifer Jenkins and former board members Misty Belford and Cheryl McDougall — also were named.
A police investigation found no evidence Sofia was ever restrained or in distress and that the method used to secure the mask was recommended by a Down syndrome advocacy group for those whom the condition makes it difficult to wear masks the conventional way.
Dismissed: Federal judge puts end to $100m 'Sofia' school mask-tying lawsuit — for now
However, the May ruling from U.S. District Judge Carlos Mendoza allowed for some of the claims to be refiled in state court, which the girl's family indicated they would do in a series of blog posts on the crowdfunding site GiveSendGo.
The school board voted 4-1 on Tuesday to authorize Superintendent Mark Rendell to open negotiations for a possible settlement in the case. School Board member Jennifer Jenkins was the dissenting vote.
It was unclear Wednesday whether the case had been officially reopened in state court. Lawyers representing the family did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Brevard School Board Chair Matt Susin denied that the decision, which was approved along partisan lines, was politically motivated. The case drew national headlines, becoming a political football in the divisive debate over school mask mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Abuse?: Family of 'Sofia' files $100m federal lawsuit against teachers, Brevard School Board
Conservative critics held up the case as an example of mask mandates run amok, demanding "Justice for Sofia" on social media and in protests at school board meetings.
Susin said he had voted to pursue the settlement because an analysis had shown the cost of continuing litigation would be higher than the amount the family would be legally entitled to if a state court ruled in their favor, which Susin said was around $300,000.
"It was a business decision," Susin told FLORIDA TODAY. "The money that we would spend fighting this is money that could be spent for extra laptops and playgrounds."
The move to explore a settlement was not an admission that the board or Brevard Public Schools had done anything wrong, he said.
Jenkins, the School Board's lone Democrat, opposed the decision Tuesday, calling the possibility of a settlement in the case a "wild misuse of taxpayer funds." She declined to comment Wednesday, citing that information discussed at executive sessions about the case remains confidential.
Much of the case, including the reasoning behind the federal court ruling, has been shrouded in secrecy, as many of the court filings remain under seal because they contained confidential medical information and information about a minor.
Skeptical: Expert opinion raises doubt on key aspect of student mask-tying controversy
Jeffrey Steel, Sofia's stepfather, has insisted that the incident amounted to child abuse and claimed Sofia's teachers had been "forcibly masking" her for up to six weeks without the family's knowledge.
Steel, who parlayed national news network appearances into over $100,000 in donations to fund the family's legal fight, drew controversy when aspects of his story were contradicted by details revealed in the police investigation.
Widely circulated photographs of the tied mask were found to have been staged by Steel and his wife days after the fact, and it was learned the family had never requested a medical mask exemption for Sofia, which the school district allowed and publicized in the weeks before and during the start of the 2021 school year.
Eric Rogers is a watchdog reporter for FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Rogers at 321-242-3717 or esrogers@floridatoday.com. Follow him on X: @EricRogersFT.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Florida school board could settle lawsuit in COVID mask case
