Allow local schools districts to enact mask mandates if it is the will of the local people!

This is a petition urging Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to roll back the executive order limiting local school boards from creating mask mandates based on local health data. Threatening to withhold funding is unconstitutional overreach, and we will not tolerate your holding our children's health hostage for a political agenda devoid of facts. If you want our children safe, please keep the virus from further proliferation.

Every local school board should decide for themselves what is best for their students. Local health data is saying that children CAN in fact be super-spreaders of the delta variant and can absolutely bring this virus home to family members and society in general. Florida COVID-19 cases are up 144% in the past two weeks. Hospitals are full. The state of Florida accounts for 20% of the US's new COVID-19 cases. The CDC now recommends masking students. The American Academy of Pediatrics (at both the national and state levels) have stated unequivocally that mask mandates are necessary in containing the spread of COVID-19. Do you know better than they do?

By signing this petition, Governor DeSantis, citizens are committing to withhold their vote from you in any future campaign unless you reverse this blatant bullying overreach. Our children deserve to be safe, and local agencies need to make decisions to reflect the health and safety of their own constituents.

Here are some helpful articles containing factual information about the safety of masks:

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/COVID-19/Pages/Mask-Mythbusters.aspx

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-mask/art-20485449