State (FL) considers offering vouchers to students at schools with mask mandates
State considers offering vouchers to students at schools with mask mandates
Tampa Bay Times, 8/5/2021
Florida education officials are holding an emergency meeting Friday to consider a proposal that will allow families to use school vouchers to transfer kids out of schools that impose rules on masking.
Gov. Ron DeSantis foreshadowed the move last week when he issued an executive order instructing state education and health officials to write rules that would protect parents rights to decide whether their children will mask up in schools. Now, the State Board of Education has unveiled a rule whose language seems to be equating school mask mandates to bullying children while also conceding that public school districts may leave in place mask mandates despite the governor saying they should not.
The proposed rule says parents would be allowed to apply for Hope scholarships whose legislative intent was to allow students who are being bullied to transfer schools when a school districts COVID-19 health protocols, including masking, pose a health or educational danger to their child.
The agency finds that the potential for student learning loss and educational disruption with schools starting next week, created an immediate danger to the public health, safety and welfare of students and requires emergency action, the rule states.
More
https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2021/08/05/state-considers-offering-vouchers-to-students-at-schools-with-mask-mandates/