Florida's two biggest school districts defy DeSantis on masks



The two largest school districts in Florida voted during emergency meetings Wednesday to defy Gov. Ron DeSantis' ban on forced masking of children, requiring K-12 students to wear masks at school regardless of parental consent.

The school boards of Hillsborough and Miami-Dade Counties called emergency meetings to revisit the mask issue after Florida reported record-high daily average case counts for COVID-19.

The Hillsborough County school board voted to implement a 30-day mask mandate for students, faculty, and staff in response to a spike in COVID cases. The school district said in a statement that 5,599 students and 316 staff members have either tested positive for the virus or been in contact with someone who has, resulting in isolation for those who are sick and quarantine for those who are healthy but may have been exposed. According to data from the district, there have been 2,134 positive COVID-19 cases reported.

The Miami-Dade school board also voted for a temporary mask mandate, which will apply to all students, faculty, and visitors, allowing students to opt out only for a medical reason.

Combined, the two school districts serve more than 600,000 students.

They join school boards in Broward, Leon, and Alachua Counties in open defiance of DeSantis and the Florida Department of Education.

At the end of last month, DeSantis signed an executive order requiring that schools give parents the ability to opt out of forcing their children to wear masks. The governor said at the time that his administration was focused on protecting the rights of parents and that recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calling for K-12 children to wear masks indoors did not properly consider their physical and mental well-being.

"The forced masking of schoolchildren infringes upon parents' rights to make health and educational decisions for their own children. No politician is above the law, even school board members," DeSantis press secretary Christina Pushaw said in a statement reacting to the school boards' decisions.

"It is disappointing that the school board chose to change their mask policy — which had previously protected the freedom for parents to opt their kids out, in compliance with Florida law," she added.

The school boards could face consequences from the Florida Department of Education.

On Tuesday the state school board ruled that the school districts in Alachua County and Broward County had violated the law by forcing all children to be masked. Possible punishments for the offending school officials include being removed by the state Board of Education or being reported to the state legislature, which could then take action against the offending school boards, Politico reported.

Previously, DeSantis threatened to withhold the salaries of superintendents and school board members that violate the executive order banning forced mask-wearing. But President Joe Biden's administration offered to go around the Florida Board of Education and provide federal COVID-19 relief funds to school districts directly to supplement their budgets in case of retaliatory cuts.

In a statement to Politico, Pushaw criticized the White House for offering to spend COVID-19 relief funds "on the salaries of superintendents and elected politicians, who don't believe that parents have a right to choose what's best for their children, than on Florida's students, which is what these funds should be used for."

More than 5,000 students, hundreds of employees in one Florida school district in quarantine or isolation due to COVID-19



More than 5,000 students in Florida's Hillsborough County Public Schools are in quarantine or isolation due to a massive spike in coronavirus infections as the 2021-22 school year begins.

Hundreds of district employees in the Florida school system are also in either quarantine or isolation.

The district, according to reports, serves more than 200,000 students in more than 200 elementary, middle, and high schools.

What are the details?

According to a Monday NBC News report, the massive number of people in quarantine or isolation either have tested positive for COVID-19 or have possibly been exposed to the virus.

"Isolation," a statement from the district explained, "refers to individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 while quarantine refers to those who have had close contact with a positive case."

Classes for schools in the vast district — the seventh largest in the United States — began last Tuesday.

At the time of this writing, the district's COVID-19 tracker tool states 847 students and 442 employees have tested positive for coronavirus since Aug. 2.

The tool reports that 399 of the student cases were reported Monday.

Hillsborough County Public Schools officials called an emergency meeting to discuss the possibility of instituting a mask mandate for all students and staff within the district in order to fight the dangerous COVID-19 spike in the area.

The meeting is set for Wednesday at 1 p.m. and will address preventive measures "up to and including mandatory face coverings for all students and staff."

According to WTVT-TV, the board will allow one hour of public comment at the meeting.

On Friday, Superintendent Addison Davis said, "We're going to make sure we still follow every statutory requirement, all the legal ramifications. But at the same time show that sensitivity with COVID in our community and put mitigation strategies in order to be successful."

Davis on Saturday added, "We must continue safety practices community-wide as we work to combat this virus."

Earlier in August, district officials announced required face coverings for the start of the school year, but pointed out that parents were able to opt their children out of the requirement if they so desired.

CNN reported that as of last Thursday, the district received at least 27,915 opt-out submissions.