DeSantis and school districts clash over masks as COVID-19 cases skyrocket in Florida

An executive order threatens to withhold funds from districts requiring masks.

Leanetta McNealy, who chairs the school board in Alachua County, Florida, has seen COVID-19 rock her district. In the span of several days, two employees died from the virus, over a dozen tested positive for it and more than 80 others were asked to quarantine, according to a statement from the district released Wednesday. "This surge has certainly created a problem," McNealy told ABC News on Thursday. "We depend on our employees so much to help our system run smoothly." The virus has so crippled the district that the school board voted unanimously Tuesday to require masks for students for the first two weeks of the school year, which begins Aug. 10. Such a vote wouldn't normally draw attention -- since districts nationwide are requiring students to cover their faces, based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- but it came just days after Gov. Ron DeSantis, long an opponent of stringent coronavirus measures, issued an executive order aimed at leaving mask decisions up to parents, handcuffing districts.