Teacher let go for not wearing a mask

Board votes to remove for ‘ gross insubordination’ even though district no longer requires face coverings

A Broward high school teacher who repeatedly refused to wear a mask is now out of a job.

The School Board voted unanimously Tuesday to fire John C. Alvarez, a science teacher at Piper High for gross insubordination. He plans to appeal the School Board’s decision to an administrative law judge, who will decide if the district’s actions were justified.

Alvarez, reached by phone after the meeting, declined to be interviewed. “I’ll wait for the administrative hearing,” he said.

For much of this school year, the School Board had required students and employees to wear masks in schools, citing a large number of COVID- 19 cases, as well as guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

That decision put the district at odds with Gov. Ron DeSantis’s administration, which had banned student mask mandates, leading to months of bitter legal disputes that finally ended in mid- November when the district dropped its masks requirements.

Although the state prohibited districts from punishing children for refusing to wear masks, the orders, which were codified into state law by the state Legislature last month, don’t apply to employees.

District officials say Alvarez repeatedly refused to follow orders from his supervisors to wear a mask. He’s being fired for the violation, even though the district no longer requires anyone to wear masks on school campuses.

“The fact that this is related to a mask and all the baggage that issue comes with is really not relevant to the complaint at hand, which is that there was gross insubordination by this employee to a directive by a supervisor,” said Marylin Batista, interim general counsel for the School Board.

Board member Patti Good called Alvarez’s actions “highly irresponsible. The conduct could have potentially jeopardized a fellow employee or even a student.”

Piper High administrators first said Alvarez refused to wear a mask during a fire drill in March.

He continued to be defiant when school started Aug. 18, leading the district to recommend a five- day suspension, officials said. A due- process hearing over his suspension kept having to be postponed because he refused to wear a mask when he showed up, the district complaint says.

During that hearing, Alvarez “kind of ripped up the mask,” said School Board member Rosalind Osgood, who represents Piper.

“His behavior is probably more of an issue than the issue of not wearing a mask. He refused to come back, saying he was never going to comply.”

Jared Ochs, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, questioned the district’s priorities, saying that Broward performed poorly compared to other districts in spring testing.

‘ Instead of rectifying these failures, the school district has recklessly decided to implement ineffective policies that do not contribute to student learning,” Ochs said. “While we cannot comment on the specifics of this case, it is reprehensible that the school district is focused on anything other than ensuring students receive a high- quality education.”