says about 85% of school districts across the state have elected to drop mandatory face mask wearing as of Monday, the day when local officials were allowed to decide whether to extend the state's mask mandate.
But the Democrat made it clear he thinks it's fine that some districts, including Hartford, New Haven and Waterbury, are keeping the mandate in place for now. "There's some people who say New Haven should not be allowed to do that," said Lamont, following a news conference about his recent trade mission to Israel.
"What do you want to do? You want to be like Ron DeSantis," asked Lamont, referring to the Republican governor from Florida. "You want to fine New Haven if they want to leave the mask mandate in place a little bit longer? You want to cut off their state funding like they do in Florida? I think we got it about right."
School districts also appear to be taking different approaches when it comes to mask-wearing requirements on school transportation after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced it is no longer requiring masks to be worn on buses or vans operated by public or private school systems as of Feb. 25. South Windsor Public School, where masks are now optional in schools, also made masks optional on school buses and vans Monday.