JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The number of Duval County Public Schools students who opted out of the district’s face mask recommendation grew by 1,300 in the last 24 hours.
Through a public records request, News4Jax learned that the online opt-out form was submitted on behalf of approximately 8,200 students as of early Wednesday afternoon.
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That number represents about 6.5% of the 127,041 students enrolled in brick-and-mortar classes.
JUST IN | According to @DuvalSchools, 8,200 students have opted out of the face mask recommendation as of 12:45 p.m.
— Joe McLean (@JoeMcLeanNews) August 11, 2021
That's approximately 6.5% of the total brick-and-mortar enrollment.#News4Jax @wjxt4
Heading into the school year, 4,700 opt-out forms were filed, but by the end of the first day of classes Tuesday, 6,900 students had opted out.
The district announced the opt-out policy and made the form available just days before the school year began.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that everyone age 2 and older wear a face make in school settings to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
The best personal strategy to combat the effects of the virus is to get vaccinated against it, according to the mainstream medical community.
A DCPS spokesperson said the district will continue to publish daily, school-level data on identified positive cases of COVID-19 on its online dashboard.