Texas is suing six school districts for mask warrants

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For the first time in Texas ’mask wars, Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing six school districts that have defied Governor Greg Abbott’s ban on local masking orders.

Paxton on Friday sued the Elgin, Galveston, Richardson, Round Rock, Sherman and Spring school districts for requiring students, teachers, school staff and visitors to put on coatings when they were at their facilities, which which he called “illegal political maneuvers.”

“If districts decide to spend their money on legal fees, they should do so knowing that my office is prepared and willing to litigate these cases,” Paxton said in a statement. “I have full confidence that the courts will side with the law, not the acts of political defiance.”

Dozens of school districts across the state have challenged Abbott and issued mask warrants. It was not immediately clear at the end of Friday why Paxton chose the six districts he sued.

The governor’s executive order prohibits local officials from forcing people to wear masks. To date, Abbott and Paxton have been in defense, as several school districts, cities and counties in major state metropolitan areas have demanded the order or ignored it.

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Some 85 school districts and six counties have instituted some sort of mask warrants in defiance of Abbott’s ban, citing the need to protect schoolchildren too young to get the vaccine amid the spread of the highly contagious delta variant of COVID- 19.

The legal push between state Republican leadership and local officials has sparked a rule of thumb over the use of masks across the state as judges defend, revoke, and reinstate the various requirements, confusing Texans about if they or their children must wear a mask.

Abbott had asked Texas lawmakers to send him a bill that would definitely allow school officials to require students, teachers and other school employees to wear facials. But the prospect never gained strength in the legislature.

Abbott and Paxton have for weeks threatened local governments and public schools that adopted masking rules with legal action, a threat Paxton complied with this week.

Round Rock Independent School District officials did not comment on the lawsuit, but said in a statement that the mask requirement helps their schools stay open.

“We are working closely with our local health authorities in Williamson and Travis counties, who advise us that masks remain an essential tool to curb the spread of COVID-19 in our classrooms,” ISD officials from Round Rock said.

Spring Independent School District officials have yet to see Paxton’s lawsuit, they said in a statement Friday, and only learned of it through a press release from the attorney general’s office.

“Spring ISD will allow the judicial process to unfold and allow the courts to decide the merits of the case,” officials said.

Richardson Independent School District officials declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.

A Sherman school district spokesman said in a statement that school officials they were aware of the demand, but have not received any other information.

“The district has focused and will continue to focus on promoting a safe and healthy learning environment for our students and staff, which includes keeping their schools open and accessible for instruction, as well as activities. extracurriculars, ”the spokesman said dit.

The rest of the school districts did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In at least one lawsuit filed Thursday evening, Paxton asked a Galveston County judge to temporarily suspend Galveston’s Independent School District mask warrant, arguing that Abbott has the power to overturn local emergency orders.

Abbott’s order “has the force and effect of state law and must be followed, regardless of whether local officials agree to it,” Paxton wrote in the lawsuit.

However, neither Abbott nor Paxton have the power to enforce the governor’s ban on their own, they have argued in court documents.

In addition, the Texas Education Agency does not require schools to comply with Abbott’s ban. This move so far has led the Biden administration to leave Texas out of a federal investigation into a group of states that have prevented school districts from enforcing masks.

Allyson Waller contributed to this story.

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