Florida Education Board Steps Up Threats To Schools Over Masks

CNN: Florida State School Board Takes Steps Against Two Districts Over Mask Mandates
Florida's State Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday at an emergency meeting to recommend investigations into two school districts whose mask mandates defy Gov. Ron DeSantis. The board authorized the state education commissioner "to take all legal steps" against Alachua and Broward counties for requiring people in their school districts to wear masks. (Santiago and Simon, 8/17)

The Washington Post: Schools In Florida’s Broward And Alachua Counties May Be Punished Because Of Mask Mandates 
Florida education officials determined Tuesday that the Broward and Alachua county school districts violated state law by requiring students without medical exemptions to wear masks and voted unanimously to consider penalties. Penalties that could be imposed on the districts by the Florida Board of Education, appointed by the governor, would be the first since Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) threatened to withhold money from districts that require face coverings, saying parents should decide whether their children wear masks at school. Advancing the fight between DeSantis and school districts, the board decided that the school officials should be investigated and possibly punished, after Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran argued that the districts were not complying with the law. (Kornfield, 8/18)

Bloomberg: Florida School Board Moves To Force DeSantis Mask Mandate Order
Florida’s State Board of Education said it would force defiant school districts to comply with Republican Governor Ron DeSantis’s executive order forbidding them from mandating students wear masks as a way to slow a surge in Covid-19 cases. The board ordered the state’s education commissioner -- a DeSantis appointee -- to “take all legal steps” necessary to compel districts to drop their mandates. That could include withholding state funding and removing local officers from their posts. The highly-contagious Delta variant has turned Florida into the epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic in the U.S. Even so, DeSantis, a rising star in the Republican Party, has dug in his heels in opposition to mandates, telling schools that they must allow parents a chance to opt-out of any campus mask rule at their discretion. (Querolo, Moran and Levin, 8/17)

ABC News: Education Secretary Says He's Spoken With Schools Defying Mask Mandate Bans 
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said he's in touch with superintendents who are actively defying Florida and Texas governors' orders not to mandate masks in schools and will have their back should they lose state funding. "I have had conversations with superintendents and they have asked if this goes in that direction, how do we get support? My message is, open the schools safely. We got your back," Cardona told ABC News in an exclusive interview Tuesday after touring P.S. 5 Port Morris, a public school in the Bronx. (Haslett, 8/17)

More Florida schools argue over masks —

AP: Task Force Recommends Face Masks For Miami-Dade Students
Florida’s largest school district will likely require students to wear face masks when classrooms open next week, following the recommendation of a task force of medical experts and defying Gov. Ron DeSantis’ attempt to block mandatory mask rules. The Miami-Dade County School Board is expected to approve the measure Wednesday. “My mind is pretty made up on the way to move forward,” Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said. (Frisaro, 8/18)

WMFE: Marion County School Board OKs Student Mask Mandate With Opt-Out 
The Marion County School Board voted Monday to require students to wear face coverings unless a parent or guardian opts out. This temporary mandate — for up to 90 days — comes after 139 staff and students were positive for COVID-19 last week and more than 500 were in quarantine. The School Board held the emergency meeting as cases and quarantines threatened school operations and staffing for bus routes. (Byrnes, 8/17)

Bloomberg: Fight Over Florida School Masks Grows As Student Cases Surge
More Florida schools are considering defying Governor Ron DeSantis’s ban on mask mandates as virulent strains of Covid-19 forced officials to isolate thousands of students just days into the new school year. Districts who buck the governor’s order should be prepared to face punishment after the state’s education board voted Tuesday to force school districts to comply. The board ordered the state’s education commissioner to “take all legal steps” necessary to compel districts to drop their mask mandates, which could include withholding state funding and removing local officers from their posts. (Levin and Smith, 8/17)

WLRN 91.3 FM: Infectious Disease Expert To Miami-Dade School Board: 'Backbone' Needed On Masks 
Miami-Dade schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho wants the district’s panel of medical experts to decide the criteria for “opting out” of wearing face coverings in school. During a Zoom meeting last week, the doctors and public health experts assembled said masking should be universal. Some even pushed against the argument that there are students with disabilities, including those with autism, who cannot wear masks for medical reasons. (Bakeman, 8/17)

Covid cases and quarantines grow —

The Washington Post: More Than 8,000 Florida Students Isolate Or Quarantine For Covid-19 In Hillsborough County
A Florida school board is set to hold an emergency meeting this week to consider a mask mandate as more than 8,000 students and hundreds of employees in its district are in isolation or quarantine because of a surge in coronavirus cases and possible exposure. Hillsborough County Public Schools, which includes Tampa, has 8,400 students and 307 staff members either in isolation because of a positive test or in quarantine after coming into close contact with someone who tested positive, district spokesperson Tanya Arja told The Washington Post on Tuesday. The number of students who are either in isolation or quarantine jumped by nearly 3,000 from the total given by the school district on Monday. (Pietsch and Bella, 8/17)

Fox News: 'Concerning' Levels Of COVID-19 Detected In Florida County Wastewater, Officials Say
Health officials in Florida’s Orange County said there has been a 600% increase in the levels of COVID-19 RNA concentration detected in the area’s wastewater since sampling began in mid-May. Speaking at a press conference held Monday, the county’s utility director called the numbers "very high" and "very concerning." "Again, the results of the virus RNA that we measure in wastewater indicate that we will see continued clinical cases and hospitalizations this week, even beyond what was reported this weekend," Ed Torres, director of Orange County Utilities, said. "Please, we urge you to get vaccinated and continue to take the proper precautions." (Hein, 8/17)

Health News Florida: Monoclonal Antibody Treatment Site Opens At Orlando's Camping World Stadium 
Gov Ron DeSantis on Monday announced the opening of a state-supported site at Camping World Stadium in Orlando where up to 320 people a day can receive monoclonal antibody treatment to help fight COVID-19 infections. DeSantis, who promised that additional sites would open in the coming days, said he wanted to promote the availability of the treatment and to expand access to it. (8/17)

In related news —

AP: DeSantis Top Donor Invests In COVID Drug Governor Promotes
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — who has been criticized for opposing mask mandates and vaccine passports — is now touting a COVID-19 antibody treatment in which a top donor’s company has invested millions of dollars. DeSantis has been flying around the state promoting Regeneron, a monoclonal antibody treatment that was used on then-President Donald Trump after he tested positive for COVID-19. The governor first began talking about it as a treatment last year. Citadel, a Chicago-based hedge fund, has $15.9 million in shares of Regeneron Pharmaceutical, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Citadel CEO Ken Griffin has donated $10.75 million to a political committee that supports DeSantis — $5.75 million in 2018 and $5 million last April. (Farrington, 8/18)

Health News Florida: Florida's Sharp Teacher Vacancy Increase Tied To Pandemic, Pay
Schools across Florida are facing a spike in staff shortages as K-12 students return to the classroom amid a recent surge in coronavirus infections. At the start of August, thousands of teaching positions across the state were unfilled. And local school districts were in need of bus drivers, food service staff, guidance counselors, school nurses and classroom aides. (Crowder, 8/16)