“If the state decides they’re no longer going to require mandatory vaccinations, are they no longer going to require the mandatory reporting of diagnoses?” Browning said. “Are we going back to the 1820s?”

Andrew Spar, president of the Florida Education Association, said local union offices were flooded with calls immediately after Gov. Ron DeSantis’ news conference Wednesday morning, with members asking how they might be affected by changes to school health rules.

Spar said the governor appears to be more interested in scoring political points than in doing what’s necessary to keep all children safe in school.

“This is clearly not about the kids,” Spar said, noting how broad cross sections of medical professionals have pointed to vaccinations as key to eradicating many debilitating diseases.

“I think this is the best policy,” DeSantis said Tuesday. “It’s just too much to have this, and then what’ll happen is it creates safety hazards. One, (by) people just seeing it, but then you have some people who may disagree with the message and then they’re incentivized to try to, like, peel out or something.”

The Florida Department of Transportation’s June 30 memo about street markings indicated they could “lead to distractions or misunderstandings, (and) jeopardize both driver and pedestrian safety.”

Is pavement art really a safety concern? Research shows just the opposite.

Numerous studies of bright crosswalk murals, both nationwide and around Florida, show a significant reduction in crashes and increase in driver compliance after they’ve been installed. Even locally, cities have documented — and been lauded for — crosswalk programs that reduce incidents.

The DeSantis administration’s Hope Florida scandal took a serious turn for the worse this week, and the only question is whether lawmakers, regulators and law enforcement will hold those involved accountable.

Weeks later, the charity gave $10 million to two nonprofits, who in turn sent nearly all of it to a political committee overseen by DeSantis’ then-chief of staff. That committee was created to oppose last year’s statewide referendum to legalize recreational marijuana, which DeSantis opposed.

Those revelations ignited a firestorm during this year’s legislative session, after reports that the nonprofit’s foundation had failed to file tax returns or perform audits required under state law, met in secret and maintained no budget or bylaws. A top Republican lawmaker accused the administration of illegally laundering federal Medicaid funds, and former federal prosecutors said the transactions may have been illegal. Prosecutors in Tallahassee have launched a criminal investigation.

ORLANDO — Florida taxpayers could be on the hook for $218 million the state spent to convert a remote training airport in the Everglades into an immigration detention center dubbed Alligator Alcatraz.

The center may soon be completely empty as a judge upheld her decision late Wednesday ordering operations to wind down indefinitely.

Shutting down the facility for the time being would cost the state $15 million to $20 million immediately, and it would cost another $15 million to $20 million to reinstall structures if Florida is allowed to reopen it, according to court filings by the state.