The Great School Mask Schism Of 2021

August 11, 2021
TAMPA, FL - JULY 27: Families protest any potential mask mandates before the Hillsborough County Schools Board meeting held at the district office on July 27, 2021 in Tampa, Florida. The Centers for Disease Control a... TAMPA, FL - JULY 27: Families protest any potential mask mandates before the Hillsborough County Schools Board meeting held at the district office on July 27, 2021 in Tampa, Florida. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended those who are vaccinated should wear masks indoors including students returning to school. (Photo by Octavio Jones/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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August 11, 2021

Multiple local county school boards and superintendents have been pushing back against state-level Republican bans on school mask requirements as students prepare to return to their classrooms in the fall.

Meanwhile, Republicans’ war on masks has led to a pressure cooker situation where school board meetings looking at mask policies have been disrupted by furious anti-mask protesters who shout down board members and health officials in attendance.

The bubbling tension serves as an illustration of the depth of the U.S.’s vaccine divide — a place where public health best-practice meets outrage over personal freedom, as the Delta variant rips through under-vaccinated communities and the half-vaccinated country heads into what could be a deadly fall.

Follow our live coverage below:

More Less

Multiple local county school boards and superintendents have been pushing back against state-level Republican bans on school mask requirements as students prepare to return to their classrooms in the fall.

Meanwhile, Republicans’ war on masks has led to a pressure cooker situation where school board meetings looking at mask policies have been disrupted by furious anti-mask protesters who shout down board members and health officials in attendance.

The bubbling tension serves as an illustration of the depth of the U.S.’s vaccine divide — a place where public health best-practice meets outrage over personal freedom, as the Delta variant rips through under-vaccinated communities and the half-vaccinated country heads into what could be a deadly fall.

Follow our live coverage below:

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