Florida schools risk losing funding if they don't comply with DeSantis' no-mask order

The executive order follows many states and districts debating their mask policies after the CDC updated their guidance.

By Ava Castelli

Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis’ recent executive order preventing COVID-19 mask mandates in schools and his vow to withhold state funds for non-compliers, has raised financial concerns in at least one school district.

"We certainly hope to be able to craft protocols that ensure full funding of our children's education, while simultaneously protecting their and their teachers' health and well-being," Alberto M. Carvalho, superintendent of Miami-Dade County schools, the state's largest school district, said in response, according to CNN.

Meanwhile, in the adjacent Broward County school district, the school board recently voted in favor of requiring masks in classrooms, CNN also reports.

DeSantis, now battling one of the country's worst COVID-19 surges, is vowing to withhold such funds as discretionary grant money and discretionary lottery money.

The governor's office said in a news release the executive order was "in response to several Florida school boards considering or implementing mask mandates in their schools after the Biden administration issued unscientific and inconsistent recommendations that school-aged children wear masks."

If a district does not follow the no mask mandate policy, the State Board of Education also can declare a school ineligible for competitive grants.