ORLANDO, Fla. — On the heels of the first day of school for Orange County students who went back 100 percent virtually, the school board on Tuesday evening voted on an emergency policy to require face coverings while on school property.

Seminole and Brevard County schools made masks mandatory as well. 


What You Need To Know

  • OCPS aims to underscore county's existing face-covering mandate

  • All students will be offered face coverings, Orange district says

  • Brevard expanded its face-covering policy Tuesday

  • There will be ecceptions

The Brevard County School Board approved a new policy requiring everyone who comes on to school property to wear a face covering. Previously the district had only said masks were “expected.”

Now students who come to school without one will be given one, and if they refuse to wear it, they’ will be disciplined.

There are several exceptions to this new mandatory mask policy in Brevard, though:

  • If a doctor’s note says wearing a face covering will negatively impact your health
  • When exercising
  • For those who have trouble breathing while wearing a mask. 
  • Children from Pre-K to second grade will be encouraged, but not required, to wear one.

Seminole Schools Superintendent, Dr. Walt Griffin recommended that face coverings be worn whenever students and staff are unable to socially distance. Griffin also suggested that parents who are uncomfortable with the use of face masks in schools have the option to move their children to online learning.

The Seminole board voted on Tuesday to make elementary students wear masks. Middle and High school students were already required to do so.

Orange County previously spproved a face-covering mandate in Orange County, but the district wanted to take an extra step in the enforcement of its own policy for teachers, staff, and those students who will be learning face-to-face.

In the Orange district's policy, students and employees who do not comply will be reminded of the policy; if they still do not comply, students could be sent home for virtual learning and employees may be disciplined.

Some exceptions include:

  • While eating during a planned mealtime while social distancing
  • Physical activity while social distancing
  • During breaks for students where they can remove their covering while social distancing and being supervised

The goal of this face-covering emergency policy is to protect students and staff during the coronavirus pandemic and to assist the community in reducing the spread, according to Orange's district.

The district stated all students will be offered face coverings at the beginning of the school year.

In Brevard County, Superintendent Dr. Mark Mullins assured teachers its mask mandate would be enforced.

“It is absolutely my expectation that as the superintendent of Brevard Schools, that we adhere to our requirement of wearing masks,” Dr. Mullins said.

Some Teachers Remain Nervous About Possible Spread

Traci Stiles, an 18-year math teacher at Merritt Island High School,  is grateful, but still feels it’s too soon to open up brick-and -mortar campuses.

In all those years, Stiles said she's never seen a return to school like this. “It’s crazy, teachers are nervous, teachers are very scared right now,” she said. 

She says they’re worried about how COVID-19 might spread when Brevard schools start face-to-face instruction again. She, like many others,said she feels like she is not being given a choice by the district about whether to return to campus.

"I mean, I'm a single mom so I have to have a paycheck. So I have to do what I'm told," Stiles said. 

But that’s especially concerning for Stiles, who has a family member at home who is considered high risk for COVID-19.

“My son’s gonna be e-learning, he’s got health issues…he’s had transplants, kidney transplants…so I worry about taking it home to him,” Stiles said. 

Stiles said she will take extra precautions so she doesn’t put her son’s life in danger.

“Like I’m already deciding that when I come home from work every day, I’m gonna take my clothes off, throw them in the washer and probably take a quick shower before I even talk to him or let him come near me,” Stiles said.

Florida 2nd only to California in childhood-related coronavirus cases

According to an American Academy of Pediatrics Report, Florida ranks second only to California in the number of childhood coronavirus cases, coming in at nearly 25,000.

Dr. Candice Jones of Edgewater Pediatrics said the report further emphasizes children are not immune to coronavirus.

"Yes, they may have milder outcomes, which is good, but you have to remember, some kids have died, some kids have been hospitalized, and they can spread it to others," Jones said.

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams is not opposed to enforcement but thinks it is more about education.

"If they think it's the cool thing to do, if they think it's the normal thing to do, if they think it's the right thing to do, and that they're going to benefit from it, they're going to be more likely to do it and do it consistently than if we try and mandate or enforce," Adams said.

In terms of community spread, the Department of Health is reporting more than 1,900 new positive cases in the past seven days in Orange County.

Adams said the most important factor in a successful return to school is the community participating in public health measures.

"You can have the best school opening plan in the world, and it's going to fail if you have runaway community transmission. You can have mediocre school opening plan, it will be more likely to be successful if you suppressed disease transmission, and it's why I keep focusing on the 3 W's, wear a mask, wash your hands, watch your distance," Adams said.

The positivity rate in Orange County is at 11.6 percent. The CDC would like that number below 5 percent for school reopening.

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