Miami and Tampa schools force mask mandates in defiance of governor’s orders

[Valin]

Alpha News

DeSantis’s office had previously warned that any districts which defy state laws banning local mask mandates could face a loss of funding.

Eric Lendrum

August 22, 2021

(American Greatness) — On Wednesday, school districts in the cities of Tampa and Miami defied orders from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) and implemented their own mask mandates on students, according to Politico.

The school boards of both Miami-Dade and Hillsborough voted to enact even stricter coronavirus restrictions than before, requiring all students to wear masks for the entirety of each school day in the coming 2021-2022 school year. DeSantis’s office had previously warned that any districts which defy state laws banning local mask mandates could face a loss of funding.

Responding to the news out of Miami and Tampa, DeSantis said that “forcing young kids to wear masks all day” is “not defying me. That’s defying the state of Florida’s laws and the parents’ bill of rights that was enacted just this past legislative session that I signed into law.”

Other counties that have chosen to violate state law include Alachua County and Broward County, where officials have repeatedly and incorrectly insisted that forcing masks on students is the best way to preserve public health. Miami-Dade school board member Lucia Baez-Geller said that masks are “the best choice right now for our students’ health and safety.”

(Snip)