Overnight Health Care: Battle over masks in Florida escalates as two school

Welcome to Friday’s Overnight Health Care. State of play: The city where former President TrumpDonald TrumpArizona Senate must release election audit records: court Larry David, Alan Dershowitz get into verbal altercation at grocery store Texas House Dems end standoff, paving way for election overhaul MORE is scheduled to hold a rally Saturday has declared a state of emergency because of its rising number of COVID-19 cases.

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Today: The U.S. is keeping the border with Canada and Mexico closed for non-essential travel, Florida is stepping up its threats against school districts that require masks and AstraZeneca has an antibody treatment.

We’ll start in Florida:

Florida gives two school districts 48 hours to comply with mask rule or lose funding

Florida is escalating its war against school districts that require masks in defiance of Gov. Ron DeSantisRon DeSantisSouth Carolina GOP to hold Myrtle Beach event showcasing 2024 hopefuls Florida’s largest school district mandates masks in defiance of DeSantis The Memo: Prolonged COVID-19 war scrambles political landscape MORE‘s (R) directive against them.

The Florida Board of Education is ordering Alachua and Broward County school districts to comply with an order allowing parents to opt out of local mask mandates, with state officials giving the districts 48 hours to comply before they move to withhold funding.

The state is requesting a list of the annual salaries of all school board members in the counties, and the BOE will then begin withholding 1/12th of that amount each month from the district’s funds, as an initial step.

Both Alachua and Broward have instituted mask requirements for all students and staff, regardless of vaccination status, in defiance of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), whose “Bill of Rights” order has effectively prevented schools from requiring masks.

The state requires public schools to allow for a parent or legal guardian of the student to opt-out of any mask requirements without any reason. Alachua and Broward require doctors’ notes.

The state: “It is important to remember that this issue is about ensuring local school board members, elected politicians, follow the law,” Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran said in a statement. “These are the initial consequences to their intentional refusal to follow state law and state rule to purposefully and willingly violate the rights of parents. This is simply unacceptable behavior.”

Federal support for schools: The White House on Friday said Education Secretary Miguel CardonaMiguel CardonaMore than 323K disabled borrowers to receive automatic student loan forgiveness The Memo: Prolonged COVID-19 war scrambles political landscape Overnight Health Care: US to start booster shots on Sept. 20 | Biden to require COVID-19 vaccination of all nursing home staff | Democrats embrace COVID mandates in governor races MORE has spoken with officials in Broward and Alachua counties, telling them to hold the line, and assuring them that any financial penalties imposed by…