In a new front in the fight about mask mandates, three school boards are challenging a Florida Department of Health rule designed to prevent districts from requiring students to wear masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Attorneys for the school boards in Alachua, Broward and Orange counties filed the challenge Friday in the state Division of Administrative Hearings. It takes aim at an emergency rule the Department of Health issued last month as part of an effort, spearheaded by Gov. Ron DeSantis, to block mask mandates.