FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - The Broward County Public School Board has voted to require masks at all school campuses for the start of the new school year.
Students will be heading back to class on Wednesday, and face coverings will be required. Board members met at the district’s headquarters in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday to discuss the move.
“This pandemic has continued for 18 months, and we don’t see that it’s going to be ending anytime soon,” BCPS Board Chair Dr. Rosalind Osgood said.
In addition to making the mask mandate official, board members also voted to allot $5.5 million for classroom equipment, so students who have to be quarantined can attend remotely.
The Broward school board defied Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ law stating school boards do not have the authority to put a mask mandate in place.
The governor has threatened to withhold funds from districts that mandate masks, but the federal government has promised to replace any money withheld due to the mandate.
DeSantis believes if a student has to wear a mask, the decision to do so should be up to their parent.
“I recommend that the State Board of Education uses its enforcement powers and protect the right of the parents to make health and educational decisions for the children,” Florida Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran said.
The meeting between Broward school board members and the state to decide the district’s punishment for enacting the mandate continued into Tuesday night. During the meeting, multiple parents called in to express their opinion on the mandate.
“If you’re worried about your kids, teach them how to wear an N-95 and have them wear it to school, otherwise, get lost,” said one caller.
“You only want to punish and you want to humiliate while children are in the ICU or in quarantine,” said another caller.
“These are tyrannical boards and these superintendents should be removed immediately,” said another caller.
“I know you don’t like the masks, I know it’s uncomfortable, I know you think everything is tyranny but you’ve gotta think about the public good once in a while,” said another caller.
Broward Teacher’s Union President Anna Fusco said schoolteachers support the mandate.
“Hopefully, one day we will be mask-free, but until then, it’s a protocol,” Fusco said.
A conference call will be held on Tuesday to discuss what actions should be taken.
On Monday, Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho and board members met virtually with a COVID task force to discuss the best ways to keep students and staff safe when school starts.
“As a result of the task force’s deliberation, I am accepting 100% of their recommendations,” Carvalho said. “That includes the protocols associated with masking on buses, appropriate social distancing, increased sanitization, as well as mandatory masking with accommodations as medically prescribed for students.”
United Teachers of Dade President Karla Hernandez-Mats released a statement that read, in part, “We call upon our school board members to show the same amount of courage and leadership when casting their vote on Wednesday.”
The BCPS board is expected to enact the same policy, where a student must have a medical note to be exempt from wearing a face covering.
The M-DCPS board is expected to make their decision final on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, districts that have resumed class have experienced COVID-19 outbreaks.
“We’re seeing it occur right now in Hillsborough County, where they have close to 6,000 students that have been quarantined,” BCPS Interim Superintendent Dr. Vickie Cartwright said. “They’ve only been in school for a few days. We are also very concerned about the number of cases that are happening here within Broward. As of this morning, we only have five ICU pediatric beds available. That’s it.”
The number of quarantined students in Hillsborough County has since risen to over 8,000.
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