A few school districts in fight with Florida governor over mask mandate

8/11 Update: According to the Broward County Public Schools website, the Florida school district will also hang onto its mask mandate, after the board met Tuesday night.

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A battle is brewing in Florida’s capital, after the Leon County school district defied the governor’s efforts to prevent districts from instituting mask mandates by instituting one themselves. Governor Ron DeSantis responded by threatening to withhold salaries from the superintendent and school board members.

Last week, the Florida Department of Health issued an emergency rule saying school districts must allow parents to decide whether their children will wear masks. Despite this, Leon County Superintendent Rocky Hanna announced children from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade will be required to wear masks when classes start Wednesday.

“I did a lot of soul searching, a lot of thinking,” Hanna said. “If, heaven forbid, we lost a child to this virus, I can’t just simply blame the governor of the State of Florida. I can’t.”

Though the mandate allows exemptions for students with a physician’s or psychologist’s note, it doesn’t give parents the authority to opt out. In a statement, DeSantis’ office said the policy “blatantly violates the spirit of the executive order and the rules.”

DeSantis maintains enforcing masks violates parental rights. He cites Florida’s new Parents Bill of Rights law that says parents have the freedom to make decisions about their children’s health and education.

Leon County Schools’ announcement follows two other districts announcing last week they would follow recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and require masks when they restart classes. Four other districts have adopted mask policies since then, and more districts are having discussions this week. The board of one the largest districts in Broward County will be discussing the mask mandate on Tuesday.

Most of those districts have clarified that parents can opt out.

State Sen. Lauren Book sent a letter to the 67 district superintendents in the state asking them to implement mask rules due to the rise in cases and hospitalizations.

“We understand that public schools, school districts, and school boards are facing unprecedented pressure to bow to the wishes of a Governor and administration adamantly opposed to any measure that might be perceived as counter to future political ambitions,” Book wrote. “But we believe in and support local rule.”