The state of Florida is giving two school districts 48 hours to reverse course or lose state funding equal to salaries of their school board members after defying Gov. Ron DeSantis' order and imposing mask mandates for students.
ABC News reports an order was sent to districts in Alachua and Broward counties -- the first of five districts to impose mask requirements this month -- on Friday (August 20) notifying them that if they don't reverse the mandates within two days, they will have to provide Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran the current salaries of each board member.
In a statement obtained by ABC News, the Florida Department of Education promised to begin gradually withholding state funds equaling 1//12 of the salaries of the board members monthly "until each district demonstrates compliance."
The order prohibits the districts from impacting "student services or teacher pay" in response to the reduction of funds and requires the districts to report any instance in which they enforce a mask mandate, which the order refers to as "unlawful."
The state board said it is also considering additional sanctions if necessary.
The order comes weeks after threats from the state education department and Gov. DeSantis' office, which included an emergency meeting of the state board held on Tuesday (August 17) in which chair, Tom Grady, suggested punishment for the Alachua and Broward districts may include removing school officials from their elected positions.
Leaders for both school districts confirmed they do not plan to reverse their mask mandates and plan to take legal action against the state.
"It's not legal what the governor is doing. We think he has overstepped his purview," said Dr. Rosalind Osgood, chair of the Broward County School Board, ABC News reports.
"Based on the dramatic spike in cases and quarantines in our schools and community, we believe universal masking is absolutely critical to keeping schools open, protecting the health of our students and staff, and limiting the current strain on our local health care system," Dr. Carlee Simon, superintendent of Alachua County Public Schools, said in a statement obtained by ABC News.