This Tuesday, August 10, 2021 file picture shows students arriving at Sessums Elementary school in Riverview, Fla., wearing protective masks.
Wednesday's vote by the Miami-Dade County School Board approved a requirement that schools have a mask.
This requirement is directly against Gov. Ron DeSantis bans such policies.
This is just a day after officials from the state voted to investigate two other districts and potentially punish them.
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The largest county in Florida, the school board, voted Wednesday to approve the mask requirement in schools. This makes it the third district to resist the governor. Ron DeSantis' law prohibiting mask rules was threatened by the governor and will result in disobedient districts being punished.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools voted 7-1 in favor of requiring face masks in schools before the first day of classes on Monday.
This policy allows medical exemptions but is directly opposed to DeSantis' ban against such requirements in the classroom.
This decision is taken one day after state education officials voted to investigate and possibly punish Broward County and Alachua County schools for their implementation of policies that violate the governor's rule. The decision by the state Board of Education is the first punishment against school districts since DeSantis threatened with withholding paychecks for districts that violated the law last week.
Alberto Cavalho, Superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, spoke before Wednesday's meeting and said he would do "the right" regardless of any consequences.
According to Cavalho, "The right thing" includes, in my view, a mandatory policy for masks. This is not a political statement. This is a protective tool.
DeSantis has portrayed his opposition to school mask mandates in a fight for parent right, despite increasing resistance and polling suggesting majority support for required masking at public places, the Republican governor has not backed down.
Christina Pushaw, the governor's press secretary, stated to Insider that it was "disappointing," that the Miami-Dade County School Board had changed their mask policy.
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Pushaw stated that "forced masking schoolchildren infringes on parents' rights to make educational and health decisions for their children." "No politician is above the law, not even members of the Miami-Dade County School Board."
She said that DeSantis's office will refer to the Florida Department of Education if they need more information about possible consequences for the school board for violating the law.
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