Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis gave schools 48 Hours to do away with their mask mandates or he would take away the funding.

He is threatening to withhold funds equal to the salaries of school board members if school districts in two counties don't immediately do away with mask mandates as the state continues to battle through high hospitalization rates. School boards in Broward and Alachua counties received a warning Friday from the State Board of Education giving them 48 hours to walk back their decisions to require masks for all students, only exempting those with a doctor's note. Broward County has the second-largest school district in the state. Other counties are joining the movement to protect our children as thousands are being quarantined from being exposed to COVID in schools.

It is clear that the parents in Florida cannot count on Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis or any other elected Republican official in power to do the right thing to keep our school children safe, whether is gun safety, RSV or COVID-19. While Governor DeSantis is redirecting Florida’s resources to build a border wall in Texas, he also wants to take away funding resources from Florida’s public schools that stand up to his executive orders that are endangering our students, teachers and school administrators. Parents deserve to send their children off to acquire their education in an environment that supports their safety. With the COVID numbers growing daily, pediatric beds filling and hospitals understaffed now, more than ever, we need to be sure that our schools are doing everything to protect all children but especially the children that are most vulnerable due to not being able to have the Covid 19 vaccine yet. Masks need to be mandated and schools certainly should not be penalized for protecting our children.

According to Florida’s Department of Health, Florida surpassed 3 million total COVID-19 cases on Friday, August 20, 2021. It also reported 1,486 new deaths in a week, significantly raising the seven-day average of reported deaths per day from 153 to 212 over the past week. Under, Florida’s Governor, we continue to have the highest hospitalization rates in the country, with 16,849 patients with COVID-19 — 3,500 of them in intensive care, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

As a parent myself, I want you to know that I share your worries, I hear you & I see you. Together we can work to ensure that our children are safe and that the funding for their education continues without interruption while the challenges to these executive orders be addressed by our courts. It will help to also ensure that our administrators and teachers taking a stand have what they need. I encourage you to sign this petition to support Florida's schools from the threat of being defunded and to put a stop to Gov. DeSantis' political agenda that is hurting so many of our students. Thank you in advance.

Allen Ellison

Concerned citizen and Candidate for the US Senate.