In Florida’s seventh largest school district, more than 8,400 students and 300 staff members are in quarantine or isolating less than one week after schools opened for in-person classes, prompting the school board to hold an emergency session Wednesday, ABC News reports.

Hillsborough County Public Schools, with 206,000 students and 15,000 staff and faculty, started in-person education on August 10th.  Now, about 4% of students and 2% of faculty are staying at home after being exposed to people who were coronavirus-positive.

Because Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed an executive order barring schools from requiring face masks in schools for children, more than 26,000 parents have signed off on allowing their children to go without masks. 

Florida currently has the third highest number of coronavirus cases confirmed since the beginning of the pandemic, and the state accounts for 1 in 5 new cases.  It’s current number of new cases–with a seven-day running average nearing 22,000–is the highest it’s been since the start of the pandemic.  Hillsborough County accounts for 7% of all new cases in Florida.

“As we work to create the safest environment for our students and staff, we also must abide by the governor’s executive order, as well as emergency rules from the Department of Health and state Board of Education. This requires our district to preserve a parent’s right to choose to wear a face covering in school,” a spokesperson for the district told ABC News. “The Governor has been clear that if school districts do not abide by this order, they could face financial consequences.”