Texas school districts sued over mask mandates push back

By JUAN A. LOZANO
Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) — Some of the 15 Texas school districts that have been sued in the past week for defying Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on mask mandates are pushing back against the lawsuits. One district said Wednesday that it doesn’t have such a mandate and isn’t sure why it’s being sued, while another said the lawsuit against it was filed in a “cowardly manner.” The state’s Republican attorney general, Ken Paxton, on Friday announced lawsuits against six school districts. On Tuesday, he said nine more districts were sued. At least eight counties and cities and 87 school districts or systems in Texas have imposed mask mandates to slow the spread of the surging coronavirus, which has overwhelmed many of the state’s hospitals.