More than 5,000 students in one Florida school district have either tested positive for COVID or have been exposed to the virus. It also includes hundreds of school employees.

In a statement released on Monday, the Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS) said a total of 5,599 students and 316 staffers are either in isolation or quarantine.

The statement noted that those in isolation are individuals who have tested positive for COVID, while those in quarantine have had close contact with a positive case.

NBC News reported that the HCPS called for an emergency board meeting after seeing the number of COVID cases. The emergency meeting on Wednesday at 1 p.m. will discuss preventive measures, including mandatory face coverings for all students and staff.

HCPS Superintendent Addison Davis said people should continue safety practices communitywide to fight the spread of the coronavirus.

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COVID and Florida School Districts

Three Broward County School employees had passed away in one day, Union President Anna Fusco said. Two of them were teachers while the other was a teacher's assistant, CBS Miami Local reported.

A graduate of the school also died due to COVID. The graduate has close ties to the school district through her job. Fusco said the incident is extremely frightening, adding that she hears it every day.

However, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is still sticking to his ban on mask mandates for schoolchildren. DeSantis said they believe that the parents rather than the government should be making this decision.

Fusco noted that she was relieved that the board chose its own move when it comes to masking. She said they got a little bit of relief that they kept mask protocols.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden lauded the school district superintendents in Florida and Arizona after their respective boards had imposed mask mandates, defying Republican governors' ruling amid the rising COVID cases.

In a statement, the White House said the president had already spoken with interim Broward Superintendent Vickie Cartwright and Phoenix Union High School District Superintendent Chad Gestson.

The White House noted that Biden thanked them for their leadership and discussed their shared commitment to getting all students back safely to in-person learning this school year, Fox 13 News reported.

The Biden administration also promised Broward federal funding if the governor implements his threat of cutting funding to school districts imposing a mask mandate.

DeSantis' Office then back down, saying the state has no direct control over the pay of superintendents and school board members who are not state employees.

However, the Florida governor's office said the state board of education could withhold general funding for schools who defy the mask ruling and is threatening to do so in the amount of administrators' salaries, Newsweek report

The president and the Florida governor had earlier exchanged tirades regarding the mask mandate in the state.

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This article is owned by Latin Post

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: School Districts Battle Over Mask Mandates as COVID-19 Delta Variant Spreads - From CBS News