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WASHINGTON – The Biden administration said Thursday it was reimbursing a Florida school district that lost state money for imposing a mask warrant, contrary to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ban on such orders, the pro-Trump Republican.
The award of $ 147,719 to public schools in Alachua County is the first in the country. It effectively compensates for the money lost at the beginning of September. Broward County in South Florida has also seen public funds taken away from it because it ordered the masking in schools.
The loss in Alachua County was $ 13,400 per month.
Imposed at the end of July, the DeSantis ban led to a war of words between shrill governor and the White House, as well as an ongoing legal battle that goes with it.
Alachua is the first district in the country to receive reimbursement for following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as advice from most public health officials.
“We should thank the districts for using proven strategies that will keep schools open and safe, without punishing them,” US Secretary of Education Michael Cardona said in a statement.
Cardona is in the middle of a bus tour to promote the safe resumption of in-person education, which has been on hold for much of last year in many major cities, as well as in states controlled by Democrats, who tended to be more cautious about being educated than Republicans like DeSantis.
The Biden administration insisted that regular classes resume, but that students wear masks indoors, even if they are vaccinated.
Some Republican governors, led by DeSantis of Florida and Greg Abbott of Texas, have blocked school districts from following CDC guidelines on school masking, forcing thousands of students to self-quarantine in those states and across others.
The funds for Alachua County came from the SAFE Project, a Federal Department of Education fund established in September “to provide additional funding to school districts that have funds withheld by their state or who are otherwise financially penalized for having implemented strategies to prevent the spread of COVID-19. “
Kelly Leon, spokesperson for the education department, said Cardona aimed “to issue awards as quickly as possible”.
Educators in Alachua County imposed a mask warrant in August, as Florida experienced a wave of coronavirus as a result of the highly contagious Delta variant. Superintendent Carlee Simon described in a Washington Post op-ed how she was called a “monster, child abuser, communist, fascist, idiot and other names unfit for printing” for imposing masks in schools.
The state’s education department, headed by Richard Corcoran, a DeSantis ally, has announced that the school district will face penalties for this, as will schools in Broward County. Despite the threat, educators in Alachua County voted to extend the mask’s term until September.
In early September, salaries for school board members were withheld by Corcoran in both districts, although they weren’t the only ones enforcing masking in schools.
After the federal education ministry announced its award to schools in Alachua County on Thursday, DeSantis press secretary Christina Pushaw told Yahoo News it was misguided that the Biden administration was using the taxpayer funds earmarked for education to reward elected board members who “don’t believe parents have the right to choose what’s best for their children.”
The ban on DeSantis’ mask warrant appears to be heading towards the state Supreme Court. A likely candidate for the 2024 presidential nomination, DeSantis has received praise from conservative media for taking on the federal government, even as his stance with Floridians takes a hit in local polls.
DeSantis continued to fight the rules related to the pandemic. His new surgeon general, Dr Joseph Ladapo, skeptical of both masking and vaccination requirements, has released a new rule that allows parents to determine whether or not their children should be quarantined after being exposed to coronavirus.
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