Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis threatened to reduce the pay of public school superintendents and school board members who imposed mask mandates in schools despite the state's recent ban on face covering requirements.
DeSantis' office said that the purpose of school funding is to aid students and that parents should be able to choose whether their child should wear a mask in school.
"With respect to enforcing any financial consequences for noncompliance of state law regarding these rules and ultimately the rights of parents to make decisions about their children’s education and health care decisions, it would be the goal of the State Board of Education to narrowly tailor any financial consequences to the offense committed," the governor's office said in a Monday statement to CBS Miami.
"For example, the State Board of Education could move to withhold the salary of the district superintendent or school board members, as a narrowly tailored means to address the decision-makers who led to the violation of law," the statement continued.
DeSantis signed an executive order last month that bars schools from reinstating mask mandates for students following a recent spike in COVID-19 cases due to the highly infectious delta variant.
"In Florida, there will be no lockdowns, there will be no school closures, there will be no restrictions and no mandates in the state of Florida," DeSantis said after signing the order.
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Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said in a statement to the local CBS affiliate that he would not be deterred from making public health decisions because of the governor's threats, pointing out that the reduction in pay would be "a small price to pay considering the gravity of this issue and the potential impact to the health and well-being of our students and dedicated employees."
DeSantis, who has been applauded by Republicans for his anti-lockdown and anti-mask mandate COVID response, does not have universal GOP support as Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La) pointed out Sunday in a CNN interview that he disagreed with the Florida governor's decision to ban face covering requirements, saying that "local officials should have control."
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