Florida is punishing districts that have imposed mandates despite a state-level ban against them, but more are following suit.
A majority of Florida adults approve of school mask mandates despite a state-level ban against them and do not support the state withholding funding from districts that require masks, a new Quinnipiac poll finds, as a growing number of Florida school districts have flouted the state policy in recent days to impose their own mask orders. 73%. That’s the percentage of Floridians that believe the spread of Covid-19 in the state is a “big problem,” with 59% saying it’s “out of control.” A 61% majority believes the state’s outbreak was preventable. Florida’s order barring mask mandates in schools—one of nine such state restrictions that have been enacted nationwide—has become a major source of controversy as a new school year begins while the state is facing a massive Covid-19 outbreak. The state board of education voted to formally sanction the first two districts that imposed strict mask mandates last week, and said it would withhold an amount of funding equivalent to school board members’ salaries from the districts if they did not comply with the state rules.
