Commissioner Nikki Fried Testifies at State Board of Education Emergency Meeting on Punishing Schools in "Non-Compliance" with Mask Ban

Tallahassee, Fla. — Today, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried testified at an emergency meeting called by the State Board of Education to discuss school districts in “noncompliance” with the state’s mask ban in schools.

Her remarks can be found below and audio of the call is available on The Florida Channel:

“Good evening, this is Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried. I’d like to read a quote: “You’re in a life boat. You see a helpless child at sea. The child is swimming toward another lifeboat in hopes of saving their own life. Who in their right mind would have the reaction to destroy the other lifeboat — all because the child wasn’t coming to your boat?” Commissioner Corcoran, these are your own words from 2016. The Board is threatening to take away the only lifeboat we have for children who aren’t old enough to get vaccinated.

“Shame on all of you. How embarrassing that you are more afraid of the Governor than you are for the lives of our children and teachers, who are already getting sick and dying in record numbers.

“If you choose to defund school districts and educators for protecting their students, I will continue to work with the White House to refund them and make sure history records your unconstitutional, partisan decisions, and I assure you that if you remove these duly elected constitutional officers it will not hold up in the courts.”

Commissioner Fried also held press conference today to amplify the voices of Florida parents who have been impacted by the unconstitutional mask ban. Video of the press conference is available here. 

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