Refusing to back down in his fight against masks in public schools, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is now threatening to withhold the salaries of superintendents and school board officials from districts that defy his ban on mask mandates. This comes as the state, reeling under a surge of infections linked to the delta virus strain, gets ready to welcome students back to school tomorrow.
The Governor’s office announced Monday afternoon that the state’s Board of Education could withhold the salaries of superintendents and school board members who defy the governor’s executive order that prohibits schools from requiring students to wear masks. That order threatened to cut off funding for districts that ignored it.
Now, he’s zeroing in on individual salaries as a threat. The tactic makes no sense to many people, especially as Florida set another state record for new COVID cases on Sunday, 28,317. Some see it as the Governor taking a page from Donald Trump’s playbook and refusing to accept defeat, even when it’s obvious.
The reason DeSantis issued this latest punitive threat may be because the Leon County school district — which contains Tallahassee, the state capital — ignored the governor’s directive and implemented mask requirements for students in K-8.
Leon County superintendent Rocky Hanna says he made the decision after consulting with health officials and doing some personal “soul searching.”
“At the end of the day, something happened and things went sideways … Heaven forbid we lost a child to this virus, I can’t just blame the governor.”
More school districts are challenging the governor’s no-mask mandate. Hillsborough County public schools, which include those in Tampa and St. Petersburg, say masks will be required by students to start the school year. Parents will have an opt-out option.
And the governor’s executive order is also being challenged in court. Parents in four central Florida counties are suing DeSantis over his decision to block masks in schools.