ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Several Central Florida school districts are now enforcing mandatory mask mandates in the face of thousands of COVID-19 cases and quarantines.

But, despite some public comment across several school districts, teachers in Orange County said they’re mostly seeing compliance when it comes to mask wearing.

In Orange County, the district has been operating with only a medical opt out, as masks are now officially a part of the dress code.

If a student openly refuses to wear a mask in the classroom, an OCPS teacher told Spectrum News that the protocol is to call in a member of the administrative team, which could lead to anything from a referral to a suspension for the student.

Pre-Calculus teacher Ashley Modesto said she’s been pleasantly surprised about not having to teach and preach the science of wearing a mask in class.

“I was expecting it to be worse," she said. "I do also think that I have an awesome group of students who are just a little bit different. But even my little rebel kids who are like ‘I don’t want to wear a mask,’ will still wear a mask without a fight at all.”

Many parents, though, put up a lot of pushback when Orange County Schools first introduced a mandatory mask mandate a few weeks ago.

Medical experts, like Dr. Aftab Khan, who practices internal medicine, stress just how much of a difference wearing a mask in school will make.

“It will take two to three weeks before we see the results and decline in positive cases in children," Khan said. "It is the right move and it will show positive and good results among children."

Khan said, in addition to masks, proper social distancing and ventilation are also extremely important.​

“People don’t understand how sometimes it is a fight to just have people do something as simple as put a mask on," said Modesto.