BRADENTON, Fla. — After 4 1/2 hours of discussion and public comment, the School District of Manatee County's board adjourned Monday without a vote on its mask policy, which remains optional for the new school year.
What You Need To Know
- Board of School District of Manatee County adjourns without vote on mask pollcy
- Meeting followed key rulings Friday from state health, education departments
- Pinellas board also meeting Monday after Hillsborough move to mandate masks
The board is scheduled to meet again Wednesday.
The board also discussed the possibility of surveying parents of elementary-school children on where they stand on the question of mask mandates. Supt. Cynthia Saunders told board members she promptly would get back to them on the legality of such a survey.
The Manatee board met for a community update and discussion of school-opening recommendations from the Florida Department of Health and the Florida Department of Education. Both agencies established rules on Friday consistent with Gov. Ron DeSantis' policy and executive orders that he said aim to give parents the choice about their children's health and education.
The board of Pinellas County Schools also met Monday afternoon on the heels on the heels of Hillsborough County’s decision to require masks for students for the first weeks of school, with an option for parents to opt out of the requirement. That meeting continued as of mid-afternoon.
Manatee County students return to school on Tuesday and Pinellas County on Wednesday.
The Manatee board meeeting included almost 50 parents who voiced their options, especially on the topic of masks. Many appealed the board to consider making them mandatory, even with an opt-out option, though some people on both sides of the issue questioned any distinction between that the current mask-optional policy.
"Optional and mandatory-but-opt-out are exactly the same thing," board member Charlie Kennedy said toward the end of the meeting. "In effect, my plea to parents is to say I think they’re both pretty much the same end result."
He added: "I would support a mandate for everybody. I would support a mandate with an opt-out, but I think it's toothless. But I'm not the only one (who has an opinion or vote), and that's the way it's supposed to be."
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Manatee school board keeps masks optional, at least for now - Bay News 9
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