ACPS drops out of mask lawsuit, turns to vaccination effort in elementary schools

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) - This week Alachua County Public schools have dropped out of a lawsuit against state masking and vaccinate mandate bans after recent legislation passed extending the bans.

Governor Ron Desantis passed his most recent effort on Thursday. Jackie Johnson, Spokesperson for ACPS says this most recent bill made their current effort unnecessary.

RELATED STORY: Florida Gov DeSantis signs bill limiting vaccine mandates

“We all knew that even if we were successful with the rule challenge, the rule challenge was going to expire in December and these new states laws that were going to replace it were going to be even stricter, so continuing to fight that battle didn’t make any sense,” said Johnson.

Johnson also says that the district believes state policies continue to be near-sighted in the protection of residents of the state against Covid-19.

“What this legislation does is essentially take two of the biggest tools we have to protect staff and students off the table, and that includes masking and quarantines, said Johnson.

ACPS will begin offering vaccines in elementary schools beginning on Dec. 7. While the school district has not specified how many doses will be available at each school, Johnson did say that they will be able to offer older students the vaccine if they show up to get inoculated.

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