St. Johns County

Diocese of St. Augustine requires students, staff wear masks amid COVID-19 surge

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Roughly 11,000 students at Catholic schools in Northeast Florida must now wear masks. The Diocese of St. Augustine announced the decision this week.

School leaders tell Action News Jax they’d hoped to make masks optional, but with a surge in COVID-19 cases, they’ve decided to follow the guidance of the Florida Department of Health.

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The Diocese of St. Augustine sent out this letter (https://www.dosaeducation.org/covid-19) to families at its 38 schools across Northeast Florida, telling them students age 5 and up, along with staff, must all wear masks indoors.

Superintendent Deacon Scott Conway says the mandate is temporary.

”Our plan is to go back to an optional mask model as soon as the COVID-19 delta variant begins to slow down,” he said.

Parents either love it or hate the plan.

”I’m here to do what is right, especially for keeping these children safe,” Sylvia Arnold said.

Arnold makes sure her 7-year-old is well equipped with masks.

But another parent, who didn’t want to share her identity, tells Action News Jax she’ll be pulling her kids out of private school.

”Each family should have to make a decision for their own kids, and I think it’s wrong that the church is coming into it,” she said.

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Conway says it was a tough decision to make. Gov. Ron DeSantis’ executive order leaving masks up to parents doesn’t apply to private schools. The diocese will be following guidance from the Florida Department of Health.

”We just want to make sure everybody in our school system is safe and can come to school and feel comfortable,” Conway added.

The diocese tells Action News Jax it will check with the health department each week. Schools in counties with positivity rates of 10% or less will move back to optional masks.