A father in Florida has accused school officials of forcing his daughter with Down syndrome to wear a mask by tying it to the seven-year-old girl's head.
Jeffrey Steele says that he was shocked when on October 7 his daughter Sophia stepped off the school bus in Indian Harbor with a medical mask tied tightly to her face with a cord that wrapped around her head.
Steele had assumed that Sophia, who is nonverbal and has an enlarged tongue, would be granted a medical exemption, but that the school had been forcing her to wear the mask for six weeks without his knowledge.
'I was just flabbergasted,' Steele told Fox News.
Sophia Steele, seven, was forced by teachers to wear a mask that was tied to her head, her father says. She has Down syndrome and is nonverbal, and he believed she was exempt
Jeffrey Steele says that he was shocked when on October 7 his daughter Sophia stepped off the school bus in Indian Harbor with a medical mask tied tightly to her face
Father Jeffrey Steele says he was 'flabbergasted' and furious when he learned that staff had been tying the mask on his daughter for six weeks
Staff at Ocean Breeze Elementary School, part of Brevard County Schools, imposed a mask mandate on students in defiance of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' controversial order banning mask requirements.
Steele was aware of the school's mask mandate, but said that he assumed Sophia was automatically medically exempt.
The girl is enrolled in an individual education plan (IEP) and educators are supposed to inform parents of any changes to the child's learning plan, Steele said.
In a statement, Brevard County Schools said: 'The student was given a medical mask exemption as soon as the mother made the request to school leadership.'
'The school district is investigating and is in the process of gathering all the facts. BPS strives to ensure each student
