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.
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.
“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.” READ MORE
