The administration of Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is retreating from the threat DeSantis made to withhold the salaries of county board of education members who vote to impose mask mandates in their districts, Politico reports. The retreat seems to come from the realization by DeSantis and his staff that they cannot legally withhold the pay because the school board members aren’t on state payrolls.
“The entire school district community shouldn’t suffer just because a few activist, anti-science school board members want to impose overreaching mandates on every student,” DeSantis spokesperson Christina Pushaw said in a statement to Politico. Pushaw went on to say that the board members who vote for mask wearing will face the “consequences of their decisions.”