Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vowed Friday that he’ll bar any local school district from requiring students to wear masks even as the nation fights a resurgence of coronavirus.
The Sunshine State’s chief executive said he disagreed with guidelines issued Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recommends that all students in kindergarten through 12th grade wear coverings when they return to classrooms this fall.
July 27, 202103:35
DeSantis said school districts in his state won’t have the choice to set such a mandate.
“Very soon I’ll be signing an executive order which directs the Florida Department of Education and Department of Health to issue emergency rules protecting the rights of parents to make this decision about wearing masks for their children,” the governor told supporters at a Cape Coral restaurant.
“We think that’s the most fair way to do it,” he added.
DeSantis went on to say that he and his wife have always opposed masks for their children.
“I have young kids. My wife and I are not going to do the masks with the kids. We never have,” he said. “I want to see my kids smiling. I want them having fun.”
The Florida Education Association, which represents 150,000 public school employees, said DeSantis is wrongly enforcing a “one-size-fits-all” policy.
“No matter if we live in urban South Florida, in the rural Panhandle or somewhere in-between, we all want our children to be healthy and safe,” according to a union statement.
“Unfortunately, through his words and actions, Gov. DeSantis has made clear he does not respect the freedom of locally elected officials to do what they feel is best for their communities.”
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Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
