School Mask Policy Starts Monday, Medical Opt-Out Form Available

SARASOTA COUNTY, FL — Sarasota County Schools’ new face mask policy starts Monday, Superintendent Dr. Brennan Asplen said in an email sent to district employees and families Sunday night. The policy will be fully implemented by Aug. 30.

The Sarasota County School Board approved the 90-day mask mandate in a 3-2 vote during an emergency meeting Friday. Face masks are required for all students, employees, visitors and vendors through Nov. 23 unless they have a medical exception or if wearing a face mask wouldn’t be consistent with a student’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP).

The medical exception form for students and employees is online here.

Mandatory masking will be lifted if Sarasota County’s COVID-19 positivity rate drops below 8 percent for three consecutive days. Any time the positivity rate goes higher than 10 percent, the mask mandate will be reinstated.

The positivity rate for children 12 to 18 years old was higher than 23 percent as of Saturday, according to the county’s medical exemption form.

“Last year, the overwhelming majority of our students and employees wore face masks or face shields, and we utilized many other mitigation strategies (as we have this year as well). This was a powerful combination that seemed to keep our transmission rates and cases low,” Asplen wrote.

Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a July executive order that school districts must give parents a choice about whether their children wear masks in the classroom or not, effectively barring school mask mandates.

His order goes against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendations that people, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, wear masks indoors in parts of the country where COVID-19 cases are on the rise. The CDC also recommends all K-12 students in the United States wear masks at school.

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The Sarasota County School Board’s decision to adopt a mask mandate for the district defies the governor’s executive order, as well as guidelines from the Florida Department of Education.

Other Florida school districts, including those in Alachua, Broward, Miami-Dade and Hillsborough counties, are also in conflict with state law after putting mask mandates in place with medical waivers required for families to opt out.

During an appearance in Bradenton Saturday, DeSantis said Sarasota County’s school mask mandate was illegal, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported.

“I think it violates the Parents Bill of Rights in Florida, which is state law,” the governor said.