Two Florida counties double school mask terms

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Both counties have now responded to the Florida Board of Education order calling on districts to allow a parent to opt out within 48 hours.

Broward and Alachua were the first two school districts in the state to move forward with mask mandates that do not include the opt-out option.

In total, eight Florida school districts have now moved forward with similar mask mandates – Hillsborough, Leon, Palm Beach, Sarasota, Duval and Miami-Dade, in addition to Broward and Alachua.

That’s when Florida reported more Covid-19 deaths last week than ever before, with one in five US deaths reported in the state, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Florida broke its January record for daily new cases about two weeks ago, and cases have since increased to the current average of 21,534 new cases each day.

More than 14,000 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Florida’s 15 largest school districts since the start of the school year – 11,851 students and 2,610 school employees, according to a CNN analysis. Nearly 30,000 are in quarantine.

Florida is one of a small number of states – others include Texas and Oklahoma – that have decided to restrict the ability of school districts to require masks in schools to protect students from infection with Covid-19.

In a letter to the state, Broward County said the state school board had overstepped its authority and challenged the board’s ability to impose penalties.

How three school districts are defying state restrictions on mask mandates

Both counties also said they believe they are in compliance with the law as they give parents the option to provide a doctor’s note.

The state argued that it is not enough to be in compliance with the decree signed by DeSantis. The Florida Board of Education has been ordered to withhold state funds on a monthly basis from the amount of school board members’ salaries until school districts comply.

In his response, Broward listed nine school board members, each with an annual salary of $ 46,773. Alachua County provided council members salaries of $ 40,287 for four council members.

In her letter to the state, Alachua Superintendent Carlee Simon also noted that funds withheld would not come from “student services or teacher compensation.”

The St. Johns School District in Florida on Tuesday announced a mask warrant for all employees and visitors to its schools, but not for its students, for the next 30 days, as cases of Covid-19 increase in the region. region. The Orange County School Board promulgated a 60-day universal mask mandate for students and staff on Tuesday evening, effective Monday, August 30.

A Quinnipiac poll released Tuesday found that most Florida residents broadly support mask warrants and oppose DeSantis’ efforts to block them in schools.

Of those polled, 60% said they were in favor of students, teachers and staff wearing masks in schools. Responding to a different question, 54% said they think schools should be able to require masks for all students, while 44% think parents should decide whether their children will wear a mask.

Almost 70% said DeSantis ‘statement on withholding school principals’ salaries is a bad idea, and 63% said they saw the issue of wearing masks as primarily a matter of public health rather than public health. personal freedom.

CNN’s Ariel Edwards-Levy, Mallory Simon, Deidre McPhillips and Rebekah Riess contributed to this report.

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