Florida orders school boards to relax mask rules or risk pay

By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON and TERRY SPENCER
Associated Press

MIAMI (AP) — Florida officials are threatening to withhold funds equal to the salaries of school board members if school districts in two counties don’t immediately do away with strict mask mandates. The order comes as the state continues to battle through high hospitalization rates. School boards in Broward and Alachua counties received an order Friday from the State Board of Education giving them 48 hours to walk back on their decisions to require masks for all students, only exempting kids who have a doctor’s note. Gov. Ron DeSantis has ordered the state’s health and education departments to come up with rules so that parents can choose.