MIAMI — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday rebuked a proposal to take away $200 million from a dozen school districts that implemented strict mask mandates last year in defiance of his administration.
Instead, he urged the Republican-led Legislature to give parents the power to sue their local schools over COVID-19 protocols, such as masking, a move that could prove more costly for districts that could be stuck with large legal bills.
“Rather than take money that may penalize a teacher or student because of the actions of some union-controlled school board members, my view would be — let’s not do that,” DeSantis said at a new conference in Marianna. “But what you could do is say, any parent whose kid was illegally forced masked this year in Florida, in any of those districts, they should have the right to sue if their kids have any negative effects of it.”
