In Keys schools, parents can have their kids opt out of masks, with no doctor’s note
Unlike the rest of South Florida, the public school district in the Florida Keys still offers a choice for students on whether to wear masks.
In a 4-1 vote Tuesday night, the Monroe County School Board kept its mask policy in place, allowing parents to have their children opt-out of mask wearing in schools, even if they don’t have a doctor’s note for the exemption.
“Ninety percent of our students are wearing masks, mandated or not,” said Board Member Bobby Highsmith of Key West. “Adults have to wear them.”
Of the district’s 8,465 students, 15 percent have permission to go without masks at school but many wear them anyway, said Superintendent of Schools Theresa Axford.
“Many students have opted out and they’re wearing masks,” Axford said. “Their parents did it because they had an option but kids are still wearing the masks.”
In Monroe County schools so far this year, 187 students have tested positive for COVID-19, along with 17 teachers and 23 staff members, according to the school district’s COVID-19 dashboard.
Board Member Mindy Conn of Sugarloaf Key said the school district offers many protective measures, such as social distancing, sanitizing, hand washing and outdoor time for students.
“The only thing we talk about at meetings is masking,” Conn said. “The data doesn’t support that as the fixer of COVID.”
The board’s majority stuck with a policy that follows an executive order by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who says the mask decision is covered by the Parents’ Bill of Rights.
A judge, however, recently ruled against the state, saying DeSantis and his administration acted “without legal authority” because they chose only parts of the law on which to base their order.
Board Member Sue Woltanski of Tavernier said she supported a policy that requires masks for all unless a student has a medical need.
“I don’t think we should have a parental opt-out because I believe it puts some classrooms at risk,” Woltanski said.
But Board Vice Chairman Andy Griffiths of Key Haven said the board would be breaking the law by making it stricter.
“We don’t get to pick the laws,” Griffiths said. “It’s the law regardless who makes them and we are bound by them.”
The board will revisit the mask policy in two weeks.
Meanwhile, Leon County Circuit Court Judge John C. Cooper, the judge who ruled against the state, said on Wednesday that 13 Florida school districts, including Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, can still enforce their strict mask mandates that only allow medical opt-outs for students.
The state is expected to appeal Cooper’s decision, which followed his Aug. 27 ruling.
The top public health official in the Keys has recommended the School Board consider a stronger mask policy.
“I’d like to have our children in masks,” Bob Eadie, administrator of the Florida Department of Health in Monroe County told the board on Tuesday. “I can’t tell you to do that because the [Florida] surgeon general says I can’t tell you. That’s what the emergency order said.”
The board’s decision came one day after the Keys was left stunned by the death of Monroe County Commissioner Mike Forster, 61, who died from COVID-19 complications on Monday.
Board Chairman John Dick of Marathon asked that members of the public not mention the name of a “community servant that has succumbed to COVID.”
“We don’t want to tarnish his name by bringing him up in any of our discussions in citizen input,” Dick said.
Just like at the last School Board meeting, a parade of people spoke against masks, saying they don’t prevent the spread of COVID-19 and that a mask mandate threatens personal freedom.
Ginny Donaldson of Summerland Key talked about the dangers of communism in her argument against mask mandates and also quoted from the book of Galatians from the Bible.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends universal indoor masking for all students age 2 and up, along with teachers, staff and visitors at K-12 schools regardless of their vaccination status.
Mary Fels, 76, of Cudjoe Key, also questioned the efficacy of masks
“In fact, they can cause harm, particularly to children,” Fels said.
This story was originally published September 8, 2021 at 6:44 PM.
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