The School Board of Broward County held a special meeting on Wednesday where members voted to require indoor masking inside schools, social distancing protocol inside classrooms and seating capacity limits on school buses that would be implemented at the beginning of the school year, which starts next month.

According to WLRN, the move was made due to school board members' concerns over a rising number of COVID-19 cases in South Florida and in light of guidance recently issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that recommends even the fully vaccinated again wear masks inside in COVID-19 hot spots. 

"I really wanted to start this school year as normal as possible," school board member Lori Alhadeff said on Wednesday, according to WLRN. "And a few weeks ago, I thought that we were in a position to go back to school without wearing masks and giving parents a choice."

"But now with COVID soaring, and the delta variant, a lot has changed," Alhadeff said.