Florida's biggest school districts vote to defy DeSantis on masks

After record-shattering daily COVID-19 counts, school boards in Florida's Hillsborough and Miami-Dade Counties held emergency meetings Wednesday and voted to again require face coverings on campuses.

Why it matters: The districts are the nation's fourth- and seventh-largest — representing more than 600,000 students.

They join Broward, Leon and Alachua Counties in openly defying Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Department of Education.

State of play: Hillsborough reported Wednesday that there were 1,840 confirmed cases among students and staff, and that 10,000 students and staff were quarantined.

A big change: Students had been allowed to opt out of wearing a mask at school if they filled out a simple form. The measure approved Wednesday now requires that a certified health care provider document the medical or psychological need to be unmasked.