School boards in Florida‘s Hillsborough and Miami-Dade Counties voted during emergency meetings on Wednesday to require face coverings inside school buildings, defying Gov. Ron DeSantis‘s order blocking institutions from making masks compulsory.
The votes came after Miami-Dade County reported a case positivity rate of 20% from Aug. 6-12 and the Hillsborough school district confirmed 1,840 positive cases among students and staff, with 10,000 students and staff in the district quarantined.
“After consulting with our public health partners … the Hillsborough County School Board voted to make face coverings mandatory for all students and staff with a medical exemption opt-out,” the school district published Wednesday, noting that the mask requirement goes into effect on Aug. 19 and lasts for 30 days. Miami-Dade County Public Schools displays a similar notice on its webpage.
BIDEN OFFERS CASH TO FLORIDA EDUCATORS WHO MANDATE MASKS, DEFYING DESANTIS ORDER BANNING THEM
On July 30, DeSantis signed an executive order protecting parents’ freedom to opt out from school districts’ mask mandates and tasked the Florida Department of Education with enforcing the order.
Under the governor’s order, students in both major districts have the option to fill out a simple form if they sought to opt out of using masks. The approved measures now require healthcare providers to issue documents pertaining to the medical or psychological need to be unmasked.
The governor has threatened to cut the salaries of superintendents and school board members for violating his executive order. President Joe Biden‘s administration has said it would seek to compensate defunded education officials if necessary.
Both school districts represent more than 600,000 students. They join Broward, Leon, and Alachua counties in defying the governor’s executive order.
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DeSantis’s office did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
