Masks off, masks on. Palm Beach school district changes course, joins Miami in mandate
The Palm Beach County School Board has reversed course on the district’s mask policy again, and is no longer letting parents opt their kids out of wearing a face covering on campus.
The decision puts the district alongside Miami-Dade, Broward, Hillsborough and Alachua counties in defying Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ order that calls for parents to have the choice on whether their child should wear a mask or not.
It also makes Monroe, which started school last week, the only public school district in South Florida to have a mask mandate with an opt-out option for parents who don’t want their children to wear a face covering.
The Palm Beach School Board voted 6-1 late Wednesday to make masks mandatory on the same day that the School Boards of Hillsborough and Miami-Dade, the state’s largest public school district, also voted to make masks mandatory as the state continues to see a rise of new cases and hospitalizations fueled by the more contagious delta variant.
Palm Beach School Board members initially voted to make masks optional for the 2021-2022 school year. Then they voted again to mandate masks with an opt-out option. Now, masks are required for everyone with an exception for students with a disability.
The School District of Palm Beach County’s new mask mandate goes into effect Monday for the third week of school. So far, more than 3,000 students were sent into quarantine since classes resumed on Aug. 12 because of COVID-19 exposure, according to the Palm Beach Post. More than 700 students and more than 100 employees have tested positive in the first two weeks of school, according to the Post.
Under new state rules, public school districts must let parents decide if their child should wear a mask or risk penalties.
Earlier this week Florida’s State Board of Education discussed possible penalties for disobeying districts, including removing school officials from office and withholding the salaries of school board members and superintendents.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday said his administration was ready to take possible legal action against governors who try to prevent local school officials from imposing mask mandates, which could put a dent in DeSantis’ plans.
Miami Herald staff writer Ana Ceballos contributed to this report.
This story was originally published August 19, 2021 at 11:55 AM.
