TAVARES, Fla. — The Lake County School Board on Thursday approved a new mask policy, requiring students and staff at schools with 5% or higher positivity rates of COVID-19 cases to wear masks until the number of cases drops.

Under the new policy, staff would review the percentage of students at each school who test positive over a two-week period.

Schools at which 5 percent or more of the students test positive would be classified as “red.” Students, parents and staff would be notified, and masks would be required until the percentage drops below 5% and is maintained for 14 calendar days. The policy includes an opt-out option for parents.

One parent said she’s didn’t like everything she heard but is happy she’ll be allowed to opt her child out.

Rose Sciortino gathered with others outside the Lake County Administration building to discuss their feelings about the board's approval of a tiered mask mandate. 

“I’m truly disappointed in their option," Sciortino said. "I’m happy for the fact that it’s still parents' choice. Because the fact that it’s parents' choice means we still have our voices.”

It was important to Sciortino to be there for many reasons. 

“To be able to tell my son that I fought for his freedoms, I fought for his medical freedoms that are so imperative in society today,” she said.

Sciortino said she hopes parents will be able to continue to make the choice for their own children.

After the meeting, Sciortino left to pick up her son Aiden from school. She said he has an auditory processing disorder that makes it difficult for him to understand people in masks.  

“He’s always asking, 'What? Huh? I didn’t hear you, you’re muffled.' It also hurts him with anxiety. It hurts him with depression,”  Sciortino said.

Aiden is in third grade at Astatula Elementary. His school is in the green zone right now, which is below 3% positivity, but the week before, the school fell in the yellow zone at 4.6%.

Under the new policy, schools where fewer than 3% of students test positive would be categorized as “green,” with masks encouraged.

Schools at which 3% to 4.9% of students test positive would be identified as “yellow.” Those schools would be closely monitored, cleaning protocols would be increased and the district would continue to encourage masks.

The board allowed public comments on the issue for 90 minutes, with the majority of the speakers opposed to the mask proposal.