Hillsborough and Miami-Dade counties became the third and fourth school districts in Florida to adopt stricter mask mandates, a day after school boards in Broward and Alachua counties faced threats of severe penalties for defying Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration.

The Hillsborough County school board, which oversees the state's third-largest district with more than 206,000 students in the Tampa area, voted 5-2 to adopt a 30-day mask mandate with a medical opt-out for students, teachers and staff. Most school districts have adopted optional mask policies or given options to parents to easily opt out of requirements. The new policy took effect Thursday.