JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — (Editor's Note: The video above is from a previous report)
UPDATE: Beginning next week, parents and guardians can opt their children out of the face covering requirement without any documentation. They only need to complete the online opt-out form in FOCUS, the district’s online student information system.
RELATED: Face mask protocol to change in Duval County due to reported decrease in COVID-19 transmission
The Duval County School district is losing thousands of dollars in state funding because of the district's mask mandate.
A spokesperson for the Duval County school district confirms the Florida Department of Education has withheld $26,770 due to the district's mask mandate.
First Coast News previously reported the withheld money would amount to 1/12 of the salaries of the board members. The total yearly salary for each sitting Duval County School Board member is $45,891.
That number multiplied by the number of sitting board members (7) and then dived by the number of months in a year (12) equals roughly 1/12 of the pay for all board members.
This comes after months of back and forth over Duval County Public Schools' face mask policy.
In July, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order banning school districts in Florida from requiring students to wear masks.
RELATED: 'No lockdowns, no school closures': Gov. DeSantis to sign executive order setting rules on masks
However, after outcry from parents and doctors, the Duval County School Board passed a mandate requiring all students to wear a face mask unless they had a doctor's note.
That decision was met with pushback from parents supporting the governor's executive order. Ultimately, several parents filed a lawsuit calling on the legal system to forcibly remove the mandate while the state opened an investigation into the matter.
Earlier this month, Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran sent a letter to the State Board of Education with his findings and recommendations from his investigation. His main recommendation was for the State Board of Education to withhold the district's funding equal to 1/12 of the salaries of the Duval County School Board.
In addition, Corcoran also recommended the state withhold funding equal to the amount of any federal grants given to the district because of its non-compliance with the state's mask policy.
Corcoran's conclusion to his investigation reads:
"Every school board member and every school superintendent has a duty to comply with the law, whether they agree with it or not. While the district school board may not agree with the safety protocols set forth by the Surgeon General, the Surgeon General is the person who, under the law, sets protocols to control and mitigate COVID-19 in schools. The Office of the Attorney General relied upon these principles to reject any argument a school board could depart from FDOH’s emergency rule based upon a disagreement with the protocols found in the rule. See AGO 2021-01, September 1, 2021. Disagreement with the protocols found in 64DER21-15 simply does not provide a school district with a basis to violate the rule, be it through medical requirements, attempts to tie mask requirements to fluctuating positivity rates, or through any other means.
"All of this in mind, I hereby recommend that the State Board of Education use its enforcement powers to enforce the health protocols found in Emergency Rule 64DER21-15 and protect the right of parents to make both health and educational decisions on behalf of their children.
"Should the State Board adopt my recommendation, I request that it consider the sanction of withholding state funds in an amount equal to 1/12 of all school board members’ salaries, as well as withholding state funds in an amount equal to any federal grant funds awarded to the DCSB for its noncompliance with Emergency Rule 64DER21-15."