SHOWDOWN: Florida school officials are in a standoff with Gov. Ron DeSantis over mask requirements as back-to-school season approaches

• A growing number of Florida school officials and educators are defying the governor’s ban on mask mandates in schools.
• The battle comes as most Floridian children will soon head back to classrooms.
• Gov. Ron DeSantis threatened to withhold paychecks from school officials who flout the executive order.
• See more stories on Insider’s business page.

Just days before most Floridian kids head back to the classroom, a battle is brewing between an unyielding Governor Ron DeSantis and a growing number of defiant educators over the Republican governor’s ban on mask mandates in schools.

Less than 24 hours after DeSantis threatened to withhold paychecks from school officials who flout his new law, educators and school board members across the state on Tuesday declared an intent to defy the July 31 executive order and keep stricter COVID-19 measures in place as kids return to school amid an alarming rise of cases in Florida.

During a Tuesday meeting, the Broward County School Board, which oversees Florida’s second largest district, voted 8-1 to keep its mask mandate in schools after slamming DeSantis’ efforts to block schools from doing so.

“Standing up for our students and our families is part of our job,” board member Nora Rupert said. “Being afraid that we’re going to lose our job – be removed from office, fined, lose our salary – bring it. Bring it. Because when you put that out there it makes me work harder for our school children and our families.”

The board’s decision marks the most brazen move yet by school officials in the war over mask mandates and means Broward schools will be breaking the governor’s emergency law by refusing parents the option to opt their child out of masking.

The Broward County School Board isn’t the only entity that is taking a stand against DeSantis. On Monday, Carlee Simon, superintendent of Alachua County Public Schools in North Central Florida declared her intent to defy DeSantis’ mask ban even if it means her district loses funding – a threat DeSantis made last week and doubled down on in follow-up letters this week to disobedient districts.

Leon County, which previously said its schools would disregard DeSantis’ executive order and require masks, walked the requirement back on Tuesday evening after DeSantis’ threats, offering parents the opportunity to opt their children out, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.

DeSantis, for his part, has painted his opposition toward school mask mandates as a fight for parent rights, and despite the growing resistance, said on Tuesday that he would not back down.

“The Broward mask policy appears to be similar to that of Leon and Alachua, which is to say it violates the spirit of the Governor’s executive order to protect parents’ rights to choose what is best for their own children,” a spokesperson for DeSantis told Insider on Tuesday afternoon.

The governor’s office then pointed to letters Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran sent Monday to school leaders in Leon and Alachua counties, threatening to withhold state funding equal to the salaries of the superintendents and school board members if they refused to follow the state order.

But despite the governor’s push for parent choice, there are options for parents who want to opt their kids out of a mask requirement, even in districts that have chosen to require them.

Florida is offering vouchers called “Hope Scholarships” to families who oppose mask mandates and instead want to enroll their child in a private school or public school that is not requiring masks. DeSantis has publicly touted the option in recent days.

Similarly, a spokesperson for Alachua County Public Schools told The Washington Post on Tuesday that a child can forgo a mask with a form signed by a qualified medical professional.

As DeSantis seemingly doubles down, the state continues to break COVID-19 case records. On August 9, Florida reported 27, 341 cases, 13,373 hospitalizations, and 122 deaths, according to The New York Times.