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 The Broward County school board in Florida on Tuesday became the
latest major district to flout an order by Republican Governor Ron
DeSantis outlawing mask requirements in that state, prompting the
administration of U.S. President Joe Biden https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-seeks-support-florida-schools-threatened-by-governor-over-masks-2021-08-10,
a Democrat, to say it was considering supporting the school
districts financially if DeSantis retaliates against them by
withholding funds from officials' salaries.
The Dallas Independent School District said late Monday that it
would also require masks, despite an order banning such mandates
from Republican Governor Greg Abbott.
The acts of rebellion by school officials come as these states --
along with Louisiana, Arkansas and others -- are flooded with new
cases after people resisted vaccines and mask mandates. Teachers and
administrators are seeking to protect students, many of whom are
under 12 years old and cannot get vaccinated.
Fueled by the highly contagious Delta variant, U.S. cases and
hospitalizations https://tmsnrt.rs/2WTOZDR have soared to six-month
highs with no flattening of the curve in sight.
Based on population, Florida, Louisiana and Arkansas are leading the
nation with new cases and how many COVID patients fill their
hospitals. Texas is not far behind.
In Arkansas, where only eight intensive care beds were available for
COVID patients on Monday, Republican Governor Asa Hutchison said he
regrets supporting a ban on mask mandates in his state.
In Florida, where nearly one out of every three hospital beds are
occupied by a coronavirus patient, a surgeon in Orlando said
hospitals in the area were "overflowing" with the unvaccinated.
"We need a field hospital. Please help us," Sam Atallah, a surgeon
at AdventHealth wrote on Twitter on Monday. "We are in a state of
emergency in Orlando."
In Dallas, where some staff had threatened to quit if masks were not
mandated to protect children, teachers and others, school district
officials said they did not believe the governor's order should be
applied to them. Schools in Austin also plan to require masks.
"Governor Abbott's order does not limit the district's rights as an
employer and educational institution to establish reasonable and
necessary safety rules for its staff and student," the Dallas
district said on its website.
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 Dallas County Judge Clay
Jenkins, the county's top executive, said late
on Monday that he asked a district court to
block Governor Greg Abbott's July order that
prevents local governments from implementing
mask mandates.
"The enemy is not each other," Jenkins said in a
statement. "The enemy is the virus, and we must
all do all that we can to protect public
health." In San Antonio,
officials also ordered masks to be worn in public schools, after a
judge granted a temporary injunction to allow the mandate in a blow
to Abbott.
In Florida, where lawsuits have also been filed challenging the
anti-mask order, DeSantis has threatened to withhold salaries from
school district officials who flout his ban.
The threat prompted a response from the administration of U.S.
President Joe Biden, a Democrat, which is considering reimbursing
school officials who lose their pay if DeSantis follows through on
his threat. "We're continuing to look into what our
options are to help protect and help support these teachers and
administrators who are taking steps to protect the people in their
communities," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters
on Tuesday.
DeSantis stood by his statewide order banning mask mandates on
Tuesday, saying it would allow parents to decide whether to mask
their children for class.
"It's about parental choice, not government mandate, and I think
ultimately, parents will be able to exercise the choices that they
deem appropriate for their kids," DeSantis said at a briefing.
The Republican rising star is closely tied to former President
Donald Trump, and DeSantis has become a national figure for opposing
pandemic restrictions, even as Florida has become a hotbed of
infections and hospitalizations have hit record levels. DeSantis is widely seen as weighing a potential 2024 challenge for
the presidency.
(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento; Additional reporting
by Maria Caspani and Peter Szekely in New York and Brendan O'Brien
in Chicago; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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