Florida’s Education Department is moving ahead and letting parents decide whether they want their kids to wear a mask on the school premises or not.
According to the WSVN, parents can now move their kids from one school to another using private school vouchers if their current school imposes mask mandates. Parents can now access these vouchers if they feel that COVID protocols would “pose a health or educational danger to their child.”
Ben Gibson, vice-chair of the Florida State Board of Education added that “if a parent wants their child to wear a mask at school, they should have that right. If a parent doesn’t want a child to wear a mask at school, it’s cool, they should have that right.”
The board also added “COVID-19 harassment” as a valid reason for parents to switch schools. Ben Gibson further stated that the state would hold off any grant if the school fails to comply with the new decision.
According to data from CDC, Florida witnessed a whooping number of COVID cases on Wednesday and at least 10,000 new cases in the previous week alone.
This decision has come from the state authorities when vaccines for children under 12 years of age are still in the testing phase.