Big Florida school districts defy governor over mask mandate

Students in Florida’s Broward County went back to school under a mask mandate Wednesday, even as their school board faces threats of penalties for defying Gov. Ron DeSantis, who says parents should decide whether their children wear masks

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Students in Florida's Broward County went back to school under a mask mandate Wednesday, even as their school board faced threats of severe penalties for defying Gov. Ron DeSantis. And school officials in Hillsborough and Miami-Dade counties planned to address the public health measure later Wednesday, hoping to reduce infections in classrooms. In Miami, Florida's largest school district with 334,000 students, a task force of medical experts recommended students should be required to wear masks when they return to classrooms next week. Superintendent Alberto Carvalho agreed and the school board was expected to meet to discuss the measure Wednesday. In Broward County, the state's second-largest district with 261,000 students, two teachers and an assistant teacher died from COVID-19 last week. In Miami, a 13-year-old student and four district employees have died from the virus in recent weeks, Carvalho said.