Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran

The state Department of Education has withheld hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal funding from the districts because of their masking policies, defying warnings from the Biden administration.

The warning is in response to the state saying it would consider preventing federal grant funds from making up money the penalized school boards lost through mask mandate fines.

Florida is the last state to submit a plan to the U.S. Department of Education that's required before more than $2.3 billion in federal aid for Florida schools can be released.

One superintendent asks the Board of Education to take his pay, too, but was refused. Others argued their strict mandates were needed to protect students.

The noncompliant districts have 48 hours to change their policy or face financial penalties. Hillsborough, Sarasota and Indian River avoided punishment after recently changing their rules.

Two districts revised mask mandates to allow parental opt-outs, but others aren't backing down. Education Commission Richard Corcoran has now suggested pulling funds equal to federal grants awarded to cover the penalties of noncompliant boards.

According to a letter to Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, Superintendent Diana Greene briefly planned to end the district’s 90-day emergency mask mandate.

The federal government continues to withhold one-third of the state’s allocation, which amounts to $2.3 billion.

The board will meet Oct. 7 and focus on the districts in Alachua, Brevard, Broward, Duval, Hillsborough, Indian River, Leon, Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach and Sarasota counties.

The U.S. Education Department announced Friday that it is investigating Florida over its rules that block local schools districts from enacting student mask mandates.