BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – Following a meeting Friday morning, Brevard Public Schools voted to make masks optional once the school year ends at the beginning of June.
As many schools are reevaluating mask policies for the upcoming school year, the school board was next to discuss the mask policy. Board members voted 4-1 to approve masks being optional starting after June 3.
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The district has seen protests, with many calling on the board to drop the requirement for students to wear masks, even before the end of this school year on June 3. Now, students and staff in Brevard schools will be able to decide if they’d like to wear masks for any school activities after June 3. Graduation ceremonies for this school year will still require masks.
Despite the mask change, the district said safety protocols, including enhanced cleaning, will remain in place. Officials said the district will offer Brevard Virtual School for those who feel more comfortable with the option. Parents can enroll their students through June 16.
The mask debate has been playing out across the state, with tempers flaring and some meetings turning into shouting matches.
In Palm Beach County earlier this week, more than 100 parents turned out, with one man yelling, “Stop trying to incite division among us. We are Americans first and we will always be free.”
Most recently, Marion County’s school board unanimously voted to make masks optional for summer classes. The decision regarding masks for the upcoming school year starting Aug. 10 will be discussed in the coming weeks, according to the school district.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has already called for masks to be optional in all schools by the fall. At a Friday bill signing, the governor reiterated the importance of not requiring kids to wear masks.
“We have to let them go to school and be like normal kids and go to school normally. That’s what really the evidence has told us we need to be doing,” DeSantis said. “Clearly, from an emotional, physical, psychologically perspective, that’s obviously just a no-brainer to have them be normal.”
Earlier this month, he signed an executive order that suspends COVID-19 restrictions, including mask mandates.