Yea….
You read THAT RIGHT….
The state of Florida might go after school Districts for trying to protect student’s health?
This IS America, Right?
Politics OVER Health it seems….
Corcoran also pushed back against the Biden administration, which wrote to him and DeSantis last week saying federal funds could be available to school administrators who faced repercussions from the state.
“My recommendation is every school superintendent have to comply with the law, whether they agree with it or not,” Corcoran said.
In an emergency online meeting, board members questioned the district’s superintendents, at times combatively. Parents, teachers and officials, including state Sen. Gary Farmer (D) and Agriculture Commissioner and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Nikki Fried, called during the public comment period, expressing a range of heated opinions from disdain for mask mandates to support for the counties facing penalties.
“Shame on all of you,” Fried told the board. “How embarrassing that you may be more afraid of the governor than you are for the lives of our children and teachers who are already getting sick and dying in record numbers.”
Most Americans support mandating masks in schools, and there is widespread opposition across party lines to states withholding funds from school districts that require masks, according to an Axios/Ipsos poll.….
More than 8,000 Florida students in one school district isolate or quarantine amid local covid surge
A Florida school board is set to hold an emergency meeting this week to consider a mask mandate as more than 8,000 students and hundreds of employees in its district are in isolation or quarantine because of a surge in coronavirus cases and possible exposure.
Hillsborough County Public Schools, which includes Tampa, has 8,400 students and 307 staff members either in isolation because of a positive test or in quarantine after coming into close contact with someone who tested positive, district spokesperson Tanya Arja told The Washington Post on Tuesday. The number of students who are either in isolation or quarantine jumped by nearly 3,000 from the total given by the school district on Monday….
More…
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ fight over school mask mandates took a dramatic turn on Tuesday after the state Board of Education ruled two defiant school districts broke state law and threatened to remove local elected officials for disobeying the GOP governor.
School leaders in Alachua County and Broward County, who are resisting DeSantis’ order banning mask mandates, now could face a range of possible punishments for defying the DeSantis administration, which has taken a hard line against enacting additional Covid-19 precautions despite a record-breaking surge in cases and hospitalizations brought on by the Delta variant.
And yet even as these counties were hounded for opposing DeSantis, school leaders in other counties — including Miami-Dade, Florida’s largest school district — are considering their own mask mandates to battle the coronavirus, signaling that the weekslong battle over face coverings in Florida is far from finished….
More…
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@cnnbrk
Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey said the state would use federal Covid relief money to increase the funding available to public school districts only if they’re open for in-person learning and don’t require children to wear masks
It is now quite obvious that the Republican Party is purposefully attempting to spread Covid among as many people as possible,even children.
Pure trash.
I’m not sure the GOP are trying to spread Covid-19. Mose likely, the GOP just want to appease the anti-maskers and the unvaccinated(which is their base) and appear to be indifferent to the increase in cases and fatalities when they do so.
G.O.P. = Gang Of Plague-spreaders
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — The Rhode Island Council on Elementary and Secondary Education voted Tuesday night to instruct the state Department of Education to reject any district’s back-to-school plans if they don’t include a mask mandate.
“I think what this does, quite frankly, is give them some concrete guidance in making those decisions,” said council member Colleen Callahan, who made the motion.
The move is essentially a workaround to a statewide school mask mandate, which a RIDE lawyer told the council it does not have the authority to implement.
“Rhode Island is a small state. We have students interacting among districts, sports and everything else,” said council member Larry Purtill, who’s also president of National Education Association Rhode Island. “So, it makes sense to me that a statewide policy makes a lot of sense.”
Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green told NBC 10 News that she will follow the council’s directive, even though she acknowledges some districts may dispute it — perhaps even in court.
“Even though I don’t really have the authority, basically what was said tonight is that we will take our chances with any lawsuits that may happen,” she said.
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — The Rhode Island Council on Elementary and Secondary Education voted Tuesday night to instruct the state Department of Education to reject any district’s back-to-school plans if they don’t include a mask mandate.
“I think what this does, quite frankly, is give them some concrete guidance in making those decisions,” said council member Colleen Callahan, who made the motion.
The move is essentially a workaround to a statewide school mask mandate, which a RIDE lawyer told the council it does not have the authority to implement.
“Rhode Island is a small state. We have students interacting among districts, sports and everything else,” said council member Larry Purtill, who’s also president of National Education Association Rhode Island. “So, it makes sense to me that a statewide policy makes a lot of sense.”
Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green told NBC 10 News that she will follow the council’s directive, even though she acknowledges some districts may dispute it — perhaps even in court.
“Even though I don’t really have the authority, basically what was said tonight is that we will take our chances with any lawsuits that may happen,” she said.
A RIDE spokesperson told NBC 10 News that of the school districts that have filed fall plans with department so far, 80% have implemented a universal masking policy and that 20% have made masks optional.
“What I am hoping is that those 20% of districts do not put us in that position — that they do right by the kids and really push forward,” Infante-Green said….
[N.B., Rhode Island has 36 local school districts — DSD]
https://turnto10.com/news/local/council-votes-to-reject-districts-back-to-school-plans-that-dont-include-mask-mandate
(WJAR) — For any parents, teachers, or students concerned with being in a school district that is not masking up at the start of the year, “have patience” says Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee.
The governor faces mounting pressure from families and several teacher unions to issue a statewide mask mandate.
McKee said he’s comfortable with how the districts themselves are handling the situation during a weekly press conference with reporters.
Eighty percent, he said, are requiring masks.
“I believe on the local level that local communities can participate in the discussion on what happens in their districts, and this has helped facilitate these discussions all around the state of Rhode Island. And I think that’s healthy,” said McKee.
https://turnto10.com/news/local/mckee-holds-weekly-briefing-as-rhode-islands-transmission-rate-still-high