Florida School District Defies Desantis, Approves Mask Mandate as 1,475 Students Get COVID
The Hillsborough County School Board in Florida voted on Wednesday to authorize a 30-day mask mandate for all students after nearly 1,500 county students contracted COVID-19 over the last two weeks.
The board's mandate defies a July 30 executive order signed by the state's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis that bans schools from issuing such mandates.
Over the last two weeks, 1,475 students have reportedly contracted COVID-19, according to the school board's COVID-19 pandemic dashboard. Additionally, 538 school staff members have contracted the virus.
On Tuesday, the county school board reported that some 8,400 students and 307 employees were either in isolation or quarantine due to possible COVID-19 exposure. The county's quarantine policies require that people miss two weeks of school, possibly impeding parent schedules and interrupting student coursework.
The county, which contains the city of Tampa, has 250 schools serving 206,841 students and 25,170 staff members, including teachers. It is the third-largest school district in Florida and the 8th largest in the United States.
During its Wednesday emergency meeting, the school board discussed the impact of COVID-19 on immigrant and poorer students who may lack access to adequate healthcare.
The board also heard from district officials about the pandemic's effects on other staff members, such as bus drivers. Bus drivers are forced to shift their route schedules and work overtime as their colleagues miss work due to the virus, one district official said.
After 30 days, the board may examine the number of COVID-19 infections and quarantines among students. After that, the board may extend the mask mandate.
This is the latest Florida school district to defy DeSantis.
On August 18, the Alachua County School Board in Florida's Gainesville area also chose to extend its mask mandate for two weeks. On the same day, the Miami-Dade school district voted to implement a mask mandate when its schools open next week.
The Florida school districts of Alachua, Broward, Duval and Gainsville Counties also chose to proceed with mask mandates despite DeSantis' order.
However, on Tuesday, Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran wrote memorandums to the State Board of Education recommending that the state board use its "enforcement powers" against districts that defied DeSantis' order.
"Every school board member and every school superintendent have a duty to comply with the law, whether they agree with it or not," Corcoran's memos said.
DeSantis' office released a statement on August 9 saying schools in violation of the mask mandate ban enacted by his executive order could face monetary sanctions.
Both Broward and Gadsden County school districts reversed their mask mandates after DeSantis issued his threat. Some Florida counties are allowing parents to opt out of the mandate as a way to avoid investigation by the state board of education.
Newsweek contacted DeSantis' office for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.
