Health and safety of children remain priority
Wednesday, Aug. 18, was the one-year anniversary of the day
I won my election to serve on the Palm Beach County School Board. Back then, I never could have imagined that exactly one year later I’d have to risk everything I just fought for simply to protect my constituents. I knew that life as a public official would have its trials and tribulations — it’s the price of leadership — but defying state mandates wasn’t part of the deal. Yet here we are. On Wednesday night, I moved to amend the optional mask policy, setting our school district on a collision course with our state leadership.
First, it’s important to understand how we got here. Last year, we quickly implemented mandatory facial coverings, virtual learning and a litany of other mitigation strategies to keep students and employees safe during the pandemic. By May of this year, COVID cases began to drop as vaccination rates increased. In June, our former superintendent carried out the will of the board to announce an optional mask policy for the ‘21-’22 school year. We all had bright hopes of a relatively normal school year. However, the delta variant began gaining a foothold in Florida due to hasty decisions to reopen too early and relaxed distancing rules emanating from the state.
Before the first day of school, Florida had record-breaking daily COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. It had also become clear that the delta variant was far more likely to infect children and lead to serious illness. By the first day of school, Aug. 10, 742 students were in quarantine. Just 10 days later, that number jumped to 4,826. District-confirmed positive cases are up to 1,163, with 1,025 of those being students. Now the Hillsborough County School District is on the verge of a full collapse, with over 8,000 students in quarantine. Meanwhile, an increasing number of students in Palm Beach County have opted-out of wearing masks, up to 12,261 in 10 days and counting.
The CDC advises that masks be worn indoors at schools, especially while children younger than 12 remain ineligible for the authorized coronavirus vaccines. Regardless, our state has banned emergency mask mandates in our schools. Superintendents all over the state have pleaded for allowances to adopt mask requirements that follow guidelines from the CDC. These requests fell on deaf ears, so individual school districts were forced to choose between following state mandates or prioritizing children’s safety. Miami-Dade, Broward, Alachua and Nassau counties all chose safety. One-by-one, these four counties implemented mandatory mask mandates with no opt-outs (except medical) — despite threats to their districts’ funding, their salaries and even their positions.
On Aug. 4, I wrote a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, requesting direction, leadership and assistance. Two days later, Secretary Cardona cautioned our state education leaders against banning facial coverings, stating, “I am also deeply troubled when I see the opposite: officials that are putting politics ahead of students and blocking their school districts from adopting sciencebased strategies designed to protect students, aligned with CDC guidance.” The Florida Department of Education replied by announcing governing rules that mask mandates would only be accepted if they included parent opt-out options. This is a gross overreach into our local jurisdiction that puts our children’s lives at risk.
Having no other options, on Wednesday I moved to follow the example led by the brave public officials and superintendents in the four counties who took a stand. The majority of my colleagues agreed with this effort and we passed a mandatory mask/ no opt-out mandate. I also requested a special meeting next week — where we’ll discuss entering a joint lawsuit with other counties to challenge this overreach legally.
As of Friday morning, the Florida Department of Education has sent a letter to the Broward and Alachua districts threatening to withhold funding, totaling half of board member salaries, from the district budget until the district complies. Additionally, districts will have to continually provide documentation, including lists of students that are asked to comply with the face-covering request. Presumably, a similar letter to Palm Beach County is forthcoming.
We have a long, uncertain path before us. Many of us are looking at possible removal from office. But as long as I’m in a capacity to serve, I will do everything in my power to keep our children and teachers safe. We must prioritize safety over comfort — the communal well being over individualism — so that we can come out of this together.