Kids in Keys schools can opt out of masks. Will that change with COVID quarantines?

The Florida Keys haven’t been spared from the statewide surge of new COVID-19 cases. But Keys public schools stand alone when it comes to mask policies.

The Monroe County School Board last week voted to require people to wear masks inside its buildings — but gave parents the choice to opt out without reason, which is in line with the order from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. That makes Monroe the only school district in South Florida allowing an opt-out option on wearing masks indoors.

Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties have defied DeSantis’ order forbidding school districts from mandating masks without an opt-out. Hillsborough and Alachua counties have done the same. Masks are required for everyone in those county schools with an exception for students with a disability.

In Monroe, School Board members set the mask policy for the first two weeks of the 2021-22 school year. They plan to revisit masks at every meeting, starting Aug. 24.

Monroe had 8,788 students enrolled in it schools, including 90 students in the virtual program, as of Tuesday. About 12 percent of students, or 1,058, have opted out of wearing masks, according to school district spokeswoman Becky Herrin.

“That doesn’t mean they’re not wearing masks necessarily,” Herrin said. “Some parents are filling out the form just in case their kids don’t want to wear masks.”

To opt out of the mask policy in Monroe, parents or guardians must sign a disclaimer that mentions guidelines on masking from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including the recommendation that everyone at schools wear masks indoors regardless of their vaccination status.

In Monroe, 58 students have tested positive for COVID-19, along with one teacher and six staff members, according to the school district’s COVID-19 dashboard. Students returned to schools on Aug. 12. Herrin said Wednesday that 252 students have been quarantined.

Countywide, COVID numbers have risen sharply.

“August 2021 has been the worst month for cases in Monroe County,” the New York Times reported on its database Wednesday, citing an average of 71 cases reported per day. That’s a 102% jump from the average two weeks ago.

For the week ending Aug. 12, Monroe reported 504 new resident cases for the week and a positivity rate of 22.4 percent, according to the Florida Department of Health. The week before, Monroe reported 388 new resident cases. For the week ending July 29, the number was 247.

“You’re really seeing a younger age, from 20 to 50, is where the bulk of all new cases are coming from,” Bob Eadie, administrator of the state health department in Monroe, said Thursday.

Hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients have also increased.

On Wednesday, the Florida Department of Health in Monroe said there were 36 people hospitalized — 20 at Lower Keys Medical Center in Key West and 16 total at Baptist Health’s hospitals in Marathon and Tavernier.

This story was originally published August 19, 2021 at 4:17 PM.

Gwen Filosa

Miami Herald

Gwen Filosa covers Key West and the Lower Florida Keys for FLKeysNews.com and the Miami Herald and lives in Key West. She was part of the staff at the New Orleans Times-Picayune that in 2005 won two Pulitzer Prizes for coverage of Hurricane Katrina. She graduated from Indiana University.