At least 2 Florida school districts refuse to allow students not to wear masks

At the risk of financial consequences from the state of Florida, two school district superintendents refuse to allow parents to remove their children from district-wide mask warrants without medical reasons.

This directly defies an emergency rule released Friday by the Florida Department of Health, which requires parents to be allowed to prevent their children from wearing masks in class.

Governor Ron DeSantis, in an executive order issued on July 30, gave the green light to the state education commissioner to deny money to districts that do not comply with rules designed to protect the “rights of parents… to make health care decisions for their minor children. “

Some of Florida’s largest school districts, apparently scared of the threat of losing money, are allowing parents to remove their children from mask warrants.

But Superintendents Rocky Hanna and Carlee Simon of Leon and Alachua Counties are forcing the hand of the state.

At a press conference on Monday, Hanna spoke of the need to keep students safe, as Florida reports an increase in COVID-19 infections and hospital admissions among children.

The state has the highest number of confirmed pediatric hospitalizations due to the virus, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Health and Human Services.

“If something happened and things turned out badly for us this week and next as we started school, and God forbid, we have lost a child to this virus, I can’t just blame the state governor. I can’t, ”Hanna said.

He added: “If there is a withdrawal and I haven’t taken it out, and I haven’t done what’s best for the kids here in Tallahassee and Leon County, it is mine.”

Parents of Kindergarten to Grade 8 students in Leon County can submit a form signed by a doctor citing a medical need for their child to forgo a mask at school. They can also transfer their child to another school district through the Hope Scholarship, a program designed to protect bullied students that, thanks to a new state rule, protects students from “COVID-19 harassment,” like the mask warrants.

DeSantis’s office hinted in a statement following Hanna’s announcement that the consequences of the funding would not affect students.

Instead, according to DeSantis press secretary Christina Pushaw, “The State Board of Education could decide to withhold the salary of the district superintendent or school board members, as a narrowly suited means. to address the decision makers who led to the violation of the law. “

Simon, whose neighborhood is home to Gainesville, has confirmed that she will also deny parents the ability to remove their children from mask warrants without medical reason.

“I’m going to listen to the experts and let them guide them, and I think that’s what we need to do. Safety and security and the quality of teaching hours are what matters right now,” Simon told ABC News. “I know it seems like I’m combative and I don’t want to be combative, but that’s the responsibility I have in this position.”

When asked if she was concerned about losing part of her salary as a punishment, Simon said: “I would be interested in the legal argument as to how this could happen.”

COVID-19 has rocked public schools in Alachua County: In the past two weeks, two employees have died, 32 have tested positive and 85 others have had to be quarantined. Seven students also tested positive, Simon said.