South Florida parents will be able to choose whether their children wear masks at schools, possibly ending a three-month, high-profile feud between school districts and the state. Citing a sharp decline in COVID-19 numbers, the Broward School Board voted 7-1 on Tuesday evening to make masks 鈥渟trongly encouraged鈥 but not required for all students. The change would take effect Nov. 20, but because that鈥檚 the Saturday before a weeklong Thanksgiving break, most students would be able to start going mask-free on Nov. 29.
Broward is the latest of the South Florida school districts to loosen their mask requirements just days after a judge on Friday ruled that Florida鈥檚 order banning mask mandates was permissible. 鈥淭he science shows we鈥檙e at a place we can relax the masks,鈥 Board member Debbi Hixon said.
On Monday, masks in Palm Beach County schools. Roxana Rivera, a parent in Wellington, said her two sons will continue to wear masks while in school at Polo Park Middle School. Her oldest son is fully vaccinated, but her 11-year-old son won鈥檛 get his first dose until next week.
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