Stephanie Mingell is a second grade teacher at Fox Trail Elementary School in Broward County. Her county was one of a handful that defied Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' ban on wearing masks. Instead, Broward County mandated the wearing of masks in schools. As the legal battle over the issue moves through the courts, the Department of Education (opens in new tab) is withholding funds from Broward County (opens in new tab) and Alachua County (opens in new tab), another county that has mandated mask use, until both counties comply with the order. Mingell, who survived a severe case of COVID-19 last spring, shares his story, explains why it is important to wear masks in schools, and talks about the dangers of returning to the office for essential workers and the immunocompromised.

We left school for spring break in March 2020 and never returned. At that time, I was already sick. I had a cold and was coughing and wheezing. My mother also had COVID-like symptoms. We went to get her tested and she was found to be positive for COVID, so we quarantined her home. However, my mother gradually got worse.

My husband and I were also tested, but my cough and wheezing were so severe that the hospital immediately admitted me. The same day my mother was also admitted; COVID was negative, so the doctors treated me for asthma and sent me home. Six days later, however, I developed a high fever and began to lose consciousness. My husband and I returned to the hospital and were admitted again. This time I tested positive for COVID. I think I contracted COVID during my first hospitalization. [My oxygen level dropped below 80 percent and the doctors had to put me on a ventilator. I was on the ventilator for 21 days. To this day, my voice is not the same. It is very faint and I run out of air very quickly.

I thought I was going to die. I thought I was going to die. When I was on a ventilator and my health was deteriorating, my mother, who was recovering (using the local news) encouraged me to undergo experimental treatments for me. Thankfully, those treatments worked for me.

When I woke up, I was paralyzed; after three weeks on a ventilator and no movement, my muscles were gone. All I could do was move my head from side to side and lift my fingers. I could FaceTime with my family from the hospital using an iPad, but I could not move my arm, so a nurse had to come and press the "on" button. Through physical therapy, he was gradually able to lift his arm and eventually was able to sit up. He then had to go to rehab and learn how to use a walker and wheelchair before he could go home. It was an unimaginable nightmare.

I was discharged in June of 2020. I went to rehab all summer and received physical, occupational, and speech therapy, and in August, when it was time to go back to school, I wondered what I was going to do. Thankfully, the school district's start was virtual, so I was able to teach from home. However, a few months into the school year, all teachers had to go back to school. Fortunately, our union, the American Federation of Teachers (opens in new tab), fought to have immunocompromised teachers, including myself, continue to telecommute. I taught from home for the entire semester that year. It was a great relief, especially since I was in the middle of my recovery. Had I not been allowed to work remotely, I probably would have had to quit my job and would have lost my salary and insurance. It would have been a devastating blow, especially considering how many times I had to see doctors, pay co-pays, and pay for medications. Being able to teach remotely was wonderful. It freed me from my own worries and allowed me to focus on my students. It gave me the strength and courage to get through my recovery.

When this school year began, I had no idea how things would turn out. The state decided we had to go back to face-to-face classes. Subsequently, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued an order prohibiting the mandatory wearing of masks for public schools.

Broward County decided to defy Governor DeSantis' order and mandate the wearing of masks. Despite court wrangling, the school district has been fined for failing to comply with the mask-wearing ban: the Florida Department of Education, led by School Board President Richard Corcoran, announced that it will deduct an amount equal to the school board members' salaries each month. (Open in new tab) [According to the New York Times, the state does not pay the salaries of local officials and therefore cannot garnish their salaries directly (open in new tab)]. They are punishing us for making our students wear masks.

If we had stuck to our beliefs and not mandated masks in school, I probably would have had to take a leave of absence. Wearing masks in the classroom does not make us any safer. Many of our students are still very young and have not been vaccinated, yet they are still very close. When I eat lunch in the cafeteria I have to remove my mask. We cannot quarantine young children. We already had a class that had to be quarantined.

[The prohibition of mandatory masks] made me angry. I am still angry. I'm angry when I hear parents say, "I have the right to choose whether [my child] wears a mask or not," and I'm angry when they act as if COVID is no big deal. [And to the Governor: you are putting people's lives at risk. Children, teachers, others in the school. You are also endangering the lives of their parents and grandparents. Immunocompromised people are more susceptible to COVID, even if they are vaccinated, because their immune systems are compromised. As a leader, why would you put someone in an unsafe situation?

It is the teachers who are at risk. Many of us who have been teachers for 20 years (I have been a teacher for 24 years) have put our heart and soul into our children. Young teachers are resigning their jobs and taking other jobs while they still can. They are smart.

At this point, we have put our health and lives at risk for too long. We have been living on low wages. We have lived with nothing. We have experienced shootings, we have experienced budget cuts. We have helped children who go to school without supplies or school lunches and who do not know how to get home. The children need us

The reason I am not retiring from teaching is because they need us. But the children know there is something wrong. They often ask me if I have a strange voice. I don't go into too much detail, but I tell them, "I got COVID and my voice hurts. So I take precautions and do the best I can."

The story has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.