The Leon County School Board is gearing up for a fight against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). Thursday morning's school board meeting ruled 5-0 to approve a $50,000 expenditure for an outside counsel to be hired to handle the ban on mask mandates, said Tallahassee Reports.
Leon County, which includes the capital city of Tallahassee, is one of nearly a dozen counties that has bucked the DeSantis executive order mandating schools from requiring masks in classes. Florida is the worst state in the U.S. for COVID-19 and the contrast to 2020 numbers is dramatic.
Florida COVID-19 Update for September 1, 2021\n\n Total Confirmed Hospitalizations: 14,886pic.twitter.com/kT8XjEuAPy— Florida Hospital Association (@Florida Hospital Association) 1630521094
Updates Thursday showed that Florida's hospitalizations are better, but still well above earlier peaks and above the national average. The occupancy is still critical.
BREAKING Florida\n\nContinued slow improvement! \n\nHospitalizations down below 15K for first time since 8/8. \n(Still WELL above earlier peaks). \n\nICU COVID down. \n\nStill critical occupancy levels, but improvement is good!\n\nMask, Vaccinate, Test, Avoid high risk situations.pic.twitter.com/545DdBMFxy— (((Howard Forman))) (@(((Howard Forman)))) 1630588039
Leon County Superintendant Rocky Hanna believes that the rule on masks has been misinterpreted and he believes it violates the Florida Constitution, reported the Florida Phoenix.
In a letter to Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, Hanna wrote that the district would be following the "actual language" of the order. He explained that the order doesn't directly restrict schools from requiring medical documentation for an opt-out.
"Although we appreciate your 'grave' concern regarding our technical compliance with the DOH (Department of Health) Rule," his letter opens, "our priority is protecting the health and safety of the over 34,000 students, 2,400 teachers and 4,300 employees in the Leon County Schools from a pandemic that has resulted in 43,979 deaths in Florida."
"In order for us to comply with your interpretation of the DOH (Department of Health) Rule, we would need to ignore guidelines from the CDC, face federal lawsuits, and act contrary to the Florida Constitution and Florida Statutes."
