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Florida
Published 4 days ago


FLORIDA EDUCATORS TIED MASK TO DISABLED STUDENT'S FACE FOR 6 WEEKS WITHOUT
PARENTS' CONSENT, FATHER SAYS


ON OCT. 7, SOFIA STEPPED OFF OF THE SCHOOL BUS WITH A MASK, WET FROM HER SALIVA,
TIED TO HER HEAD WITH A THIN, NYLON STRING

By Audrey Conklin | Fox News
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close
Video

SOME FLORIDA PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE MANDATING MASKS, DEFYING GOVERNOR DESANTIS

Parents John and Robyn McCarthy explain how the mask mandate affects their
immunocompromised son

A Florida father is accusing educators at his daughter's elementary school of
forcing his daughter with Down syndrome to wear a mask by tying it to her head
for about six weeks.




Jeffery Steele's daughter, Sofia Steele, is nonverbal and has an enlarged
tongue. On Oct. 7, Sofia stepped off of the school bus with a mask, wet from her
saliva, tied to her head with a thin, nylon string, Steele told Fox News
Digital, but she did not leave for school with a mask on that day or any day
prior.

Sofia has an individual education plan (IEP), and educators are supposed to
inform parents of any changes made to their children's IEPs, Steele said. But
the school never informed him or his wife that they were going to require Sofia
to wear a mask, and no one asked the parents for their consent in tying it to
her face during school.



Steele emphasized that his daughter breathes through her mouth and cannot speak,
so wearing a mask is dangerous for her health in more ways than one.



A Florida father is accusing educators at his daughter's elementary school of
forcing his daughter with Down syndrome to wear a mask by tying it to her head
for about six weeks. (Credit: Jeffrey Steele)

Ocean Breeze Elementary School in Indian Harbour Beach implemented its own mask
mandate in September in defiance of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' efforts to ban
schools from requiring children to wear masks.



CDC BOSS WALENSKY SAYS SCHOOLS SHOULD KEEP MASK MANDATES EVEN IF KIDS ARE
VACCINATED

"The student was given a medical mask exemption as soon as the mother made the
request to school leadership," Brevard Public Schools Chief Strategic
Communications Officer Russell Bruhn said in a statement. "The school district
is investigating and is in the process of gathering all the facts. BPS strives
to ensure each student has the best educational experience possible and will
continue in that effort."



Steele went to the school on Oct. 12 with the service officer assigned to the
school to demand answers. He waited several days to voice his concerns because
he needed to "take some time" to collect himself, he said. It was at that
meeting that school personnel allegedly admitted to Steele that they had been
tying Sofia's mask to her face or holding it in place with hair clips for about
six weeks without her parents' consent.

FLORIDA'S NEW SURGEON GENERAL: DATA DOES NOT SUPPORT MASK MANDATES IN SCHOOL



The father noted that Sofia had never come home with a mask on prior to Oct. 7,
so he speculates that school personnel had been taking it off before sending her
home on the bus.




"I was just flabbergasted," Steele said.

Ocean Breeze Elementary School (Google Maps)

The school had previously informed Sofia's parents that she had been removing
her shoes at school. Steele and his wife contacted Ocean Breeze around that time
because they "saw big behavior changes in Sofia at home."

"We wanted to work with the school — we were working with her IEP — because we
were getting notes all the time about Sofia's behavior at school," Steele said.
"This was concerning to us because we were seeing the same sort of negative
behavior at home, and we told them that. We still did not know there was a mask
on her face at this time."




LOUDOUN COUNTY EMAIL REVEALS SUPERINTENDENT NOTIFIED SCHOOL BOARD ON DAY OF
ALLEGED SEXUAL ASSAULT

Steele has hired an attorney and is pulling his daughter out of Ocean Breeze.

"We don't want her to be a spectacle," the father said. Sofia's parents have
also set up a fundraiser for their daughter on GiveSendGo called "Sofia's
rights."



DeSantis and Republican Florida Rep. Randy Fine highlighted Sofia's story on
Wednesday, and Fine is considering introducing legislation during a special
session that would increase penalties for people who force children to wear
masks without their parents' consent.




CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"This is already criminal. I…plan to introduce legislation to increase the
penalty," Fine told Fox News. "…We're going to be having a special session in
Tallahassee, and I expect that we'll pass a law in Sofia's honor that puts
people like Brevard Heart school board members who did this to Sofia in prison
for a very long time."



Fine added that he was "sick" when he heard Steele's story about his daughter.

Audrey Conklin is a digital reporter for FOX Business and Fox News. Email tips
to audrey.conklin@fox.com. Follow her on Twitter at @audpants.



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