Florida Board Of Education Votes To Punish Broward School District Over Mask Mandate
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The State Board of Education has voted to punish Broward County Public Schools for mandating masks when classes start.
Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran said he's found probable cause, as he put it, that the Broward School Board violated state law.
What the penalties will be remains to be seen as they were not discussed at Tuesday emergency meeting.
The vote comes a day before Broward students head back to the classroom and the Miami-Dade School Board's own decision on masks.
"I'm obligated make sure that all of our children and our employees are safe. And I'm also obligated as a person that has been a teacher, a principal, a superintendent, a lifelong educator for over 30 years, to look at empirical data relative to what the scientific determinations that we have to consider," said Miami-Dade School Board Vice Chair Dr. Steve Gallon.
Gallon authored an item to be voted on Wednesday, revisiting mask wearing by students and staff in light of the highly contagious delta variant and the governor's strong opposition to facial coverings.
The vice chair's item supporting mask wearing appears to be backed by seven other members, leaving lone holdout in Lubby Navarro.
Navarro tweeted on August 11, "I do not support masking our children! I stand firm on giving the choice to our parents! The strongest voice in our public education system are our parents!"
Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho says he fully supports a recommendation for kids and faculty to wear masks.