Duval County School Board Approves 90-Day Mask Warrant with Medical Deactivation

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After hours of heated discussions, sometimes with local doctors, parents and leaders, the Duval County School Board made the controversial and potentially costly decision on Monday to require masks.

At an eight-hour emergency meeting, the school board voted 5-2 to approve a 90-day mask warrant for all students unless they receive a note from an authorized health care provider. that says the student has medical, physical, or psychological treatment. condition that prevents them from covering their face. Previously, school district policy was a strong recommendation, but he asked parents to opt for their children if they did not want them to wear it.

“No” votes were board members Lori Hershey and Charlotte Joyce.

“I want to leave the decision to her parents,” Joyce said.

The student mask term will begin on September 7th. The superintendent has the ability to suspend the requirement before the end of the 90 days.

Announcements

According to the emergency rule approved by the school board, students who are not excluded must wear face coatings inside the school buildings. Students should not wear masks if they are actively practicing sports.

The vote was held on the same day that more than 200 COVID-19 cases were added to the district’s online monitoring board. On Monday at 8 p.m., there have been 815 cases across the district (704 student cases and 111 staff cases) since the first day of school, Aug. 10. This represents an increase of 226 cases (201 cases of students and 25 cases of staff) since 10 in the morning. Monday: The highest one-day addition to the board since the coronavirus pandemic began. The next largest increase in a single day was on January 13, when 166 cases were added. Throughout the past year, DCPS had just under 2,500 cases.

Announcements

Before making a decision, more than three hours of public comment presented passionate pleas from both sides: people for and against the masks. More than 65 community members shared their views.

“We have a responsibility to protect those who cannot protect themselves,” Mother Katie Wisner said. “You have a responsibility to make difficult decisions to protect our children and our community. Please, as a father, as a mother, I implore and urge and ask that you listen to science and the experts. “

There was a strong demonstration from parents who were fully opposed to the mask requirement and demanded that the board leave politics as it was, citing the order of Florida Gov. DeSantis.

“If you intend to reapply a mask warrant, it is up to the Duval County School Board to explain to all its stakeholders why masks are absolutely necessary,” said Father LeeAnn Parker. “Show us that COVID infections will be reduced due to a mask warrant.”

Announcements

It was a tense meeting with school board president Elizabeth Andersen, who had to tell the audience several times to calm down.

Others, including doctors, lawyers, parents and staff members of Duval County Public Schools, asked the school board to reimplement last year’s term or at least require a doctor’s note not to participate. hi.

“We have to overcome these inaccurate and overprinted thoughts that COVID-19 is an insignificant infection in children. This is simply not true,” said allergist and immunologist Dr. Sunil Joshi. “More recently, the American Academy of Pediatrics noted that between May 2020 and July 2021, approximately 400 children died of COVID-19 in the United States, this is comparable to what we see with the seasonal flu for which we have a vaccine, in which case children under the age of 12 cannot receive the vaccine. “

Ernesto Rubio, interim director of the Florida Department of Health in Duval County, was also there to support the masking.

Announcements

School board vice president Darryl Willie convened Monday’s emergency meeting, which said the pandemic emergency is at a point where the school board needs to impose a mandate.

“If we continue down the path we are on, we will have to do something to protect our staff and our students,” Willie said at the meeting.

Duval County joins a growing list of at least eight school districts in the state that choose to challenge DeSantis ’order to ban any masked warrant that requires the removal of a doctor’s note.

“By voting this evening, the Duval County School Board has blatantly challenged Florida Law and Gov. Ron DeSantis by violating the governor’s executive order and the Parental Rights Declaration, eliminating the“ disabling ”of masks. in our schools, “said Republican Duval County Party tweeted Monday night.

The DeSantis administration has threatened to cut funding and withhold salaries from school board members who decide to go against the order. But the Biden administration has said it would make a difference in statewide funding cuts for districts that require masks.

Announcements

Andersen said that while the governor’s administration has threatened salaries, student safety is worth it.

“We’ve seen several districts keep the opt-out in place and leave it in the hands of doctors,” Andersen said. “Our salaries are secondary.”

Florida’s battle for masks in schools to protect itself from COVID-19 landed Monday before a judge studying a lawsuit challenging DeSantis’ order. The hearing is scheduled to end on Wednesday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended universal indoor masking to all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status.