FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Editor's note: The above video is from a previous story.
A South Florida school district that voted to require masks when classes resume later this month, now says it will comply with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ executive order preventing mask mandates in schools.
With coronavirus infections surging again due to the much more contagious delta variant, the Broward school board had voted to require everyone to wear facial coverings indoors, enforcing a recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As coronavirus cases surge in the state, DeSantis has said he would work to protect Floridians' right to work and the rights of kids to attend school in person.
And he plans to do that through new legislation that gives parents the right to reject mask mandates in schools. HB 241, otherwise known as the "Parents' Bill of Rights," was signed by DeSantis last month. It aims to protect parents' rights regarding a child's education, upbringing and health care.
He also signed an executive order which directs the Florida Department of Education and Department of Health to issue emergency rules “protecting the rights of parents to make this decision about wearing masks for their for their children.”
DeSantis' order also allows for the Florida Commissioner of Education to pursue all legal means to ensure compliance from school districts, including withholding state funds from non-compliant school boards.
DeSantis says he wants parents to decide, even as hospitals' COVID wards fill up again across Florida.
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