Florida Education Board Moves to Enforce DeSantis Ban on Mask Mandates

School board approves recommendations of DeSantis-appointee
DeSantis threatened to cut state funds to defiant districts

WATCH: As the U.S. approaches the start of a brand new school year, the debate deepens over mandatory vaccinations for children.(Source: Bloomberg)

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By Nic Querolo, Danielle Moran, and Jonathan Levin

August 17, 2021 at 9:33 PM UTC

Updated on

August 17, 2021 at 11:12 PM UTC

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Florida’s State Board of Education said it would force defiant school districts to comply with Republican Governor Ron DeSantis’s executive order forbidding them from mandating students wear masks as a way to slow a surge in Covid-19 cases.

The board ordered the state’s education commissioner -- a DeSantis appointee -- to “take all legal steps” necessary to compel districts to drop their mandates. That could include withholding state funding and removing local officers from their posts.