TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — At a PreK-12 state budget conference meeting Tuesday night at the Florida Capitol, Leon County Schools Superintendent asked lawmakers to reconsider the Florida House's "Putting Parents First Adjustment,"which would take $200 million from 12 counties where school boards went against Gov. Ron DeSantis by requiring students and faculty to wear masks.
"This does nothing but add to the divisiveness that we face, not only in our country but in the state of Florida," Hanna said. "There is no consensus, there's no coming to the middle. And when you do things like this to punish districts for doing what the people in their communities wanted, that to me is a travesty."
According to Hanna, the county would lose about $2.7 million in funding under the rule, which would put the Leon County Schools' chief of safety and chief financial officer positions at risk of no longer existing.
The superintendent also added that he did not believe lawmakers when according to Hanna said, "
"I wasn't playing politics with any decision I made, I was trying to do what the people in this community wanted: keep our children safe and keep our schools open," Hanna said.
Hanna closed his remarks by telling lawmakers that they were reopening a wound and punishing school leaders for doing what they thought was right.
Republican Rep. Randy Fine has previously defended the decision to punish the 12 districts, saying that they broke the law.
