FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Members of the School Board of Broward County voted on Tuesday to end the face mask mandate on Nov. 20th and to adopt a new opt-out policy.
The vote comes after months of standing by mandate at Broward County Public Schools that the Florida Department of Education claimed was in violation of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ban.
The new opt-out policy will allow parents to choose whether or not their children will have to wear a face mask in school.
The decision comes just hours after Miami-Dade County Public Schools announced students will no longer have to wear face masks if their parents don’t want them to.
DeSantis signed an executive order on July 30 tasking the Florida Department of Health and the Florida Department of Education with making sure parents’ “freedom to choose” is protected.
Florida’s Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran announced on Aug. 30 that the FDOE had withheld “the monthly school board member salaries” as directed by the State Board of Education.
Broward school board members made their decision after Superintendent Vickie Cartwright made the recommendation after data showed a reduction in COVID-19 cases in Broward County. The board had lifted the mandate at high schools on Oct. 26.
Broward Teachers Union President Anna Fusco released a statement saying the decrease in the positivity rate and hospitalizations and the availability of vaccines for all school-aged children were also contributing factors.
“I hope parents will seriously consider getting their children vaccinated and recommending that they still wear masks in school,” Fusco said. “I trust that the Board will continue to prioritize safety and will make changes in the masking policy should the numbers begin trending in the wrong direction.”
Experts with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continue to recommend universal masking in schools — regardless of vaccination status.
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