Why a Florida superintendent is defying DeSantis on masks
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends all students and staff wear masks while in school, saying they are one of the most effective mitigation strategies we’ve got to slow the spread of the delta variant — especially for the 50 million children younger than 12 who are not yet eligible for coronavirus vaccination. But at least seven states have banned schools from requiring masks.
In Florida, where students returned to school this week, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) says every parent should be able to decide whether or not their child wears a mask in class. DeSantis has made opposition to pandemic-related restrictions a central part of his political identity as he lays the groundwork for a potential 2024 presidential bid. Now he’s threatening to withhold state funding from school districts that mandate masks.
A handful of Florida’s 67 districts are doing so anyway, including Alachua County Public Schools, where Carlee Simon serves as superintendent. In an op-ed for The Post, Simon defended the district’s requirement that students and staff wear masks for at least the first two weeks of the new school year.
Read Carlee Simon’s op-ed here.
