Demands for universal masking in Florida schools are growing

TALLAHASSEE – Florida reported more than 73,000 COVID-19 infections last week.

It’s the highest since January, so some Floridians renew the requirement for universal masking when students return to school in the fall.

The pressure is growing on school districts trying to balance safety and personal choices.

In the state capital, masks are optional for students returning in the fall.

“There’s no good reason not to have a mask mandate,” said Leon County English teacher and parent Sarah Marquez at a rally outside Tallahassee City Hall on Monday.

Teachers, community members and activists urged elected officials to follow the American Academy of Pediatrics’ universal masking recommendation.

“Putting a group of unvaccinated and unmasked people in a room is a potential super-spread event,” said Isabel Ruano, the mother of Leon County.

Leon County Superintendent Rocky Hanna said his decision to make masks optional was based on local health data.

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“Zero hospitalizations in the five to eleven age group not eligible for vaccines. No hospital admissions and no deaths between the ages of twelve and eighteen, ”said Hanna.

However, the Florida Education Association noted that school officials who might advocate universal masking face a governor who has vowed to convene a special session to overturn the masking agency if districts impose mandates.

“He says he doesn’t want the Florida federal government to tell you what to do, but he went out and said no district should do that,” said FEA President Andrew Spar.

Although no districts have announced universal mask mandates so far, this could change if the delta variant continues to spread across the state.

The Florida School Boards Association advocates local control over the subject, as does Hanna.

“Let the churches decide what’s best for them, what’s best for their church,” said Hanna.

And when the legislature returned to its precincts to regulate masking in schools, Hanna vowed that he would bring the charges to justice.

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Seven children have died of COVID in Florida since the pandemic began.

More than 250,000 in this age group are infected.

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