6 Texas school districts sue Gov. Abbott over mask-mandate ban
RIO GRANDE VALLEY, Texas — Six school districts in Texas' Rio Grande Valley filed a lawsuit Thursday afternoon against Gov. Greg Abbott in the latest push back against his executive order banning mask mandates.
The Wall Street Journal reports the suit contends that school districts have the authority to operate and issue regulations over their own facilities - and further contends that the governor lacks the authority to stop schools from requiring masks on their campuses.
The half-dozen districts indicated in the court filing that they believe a lack of masks will harm and disrupt in-person classroom instruction as rising Covid-19 infections tied to the Delta variant may cause teacher shortages for absences and quarantine.
“It seems to me [that the governor] is trying to use a disaster declaration to prohibit anybody from responding to the disaster…which is odd,” Kevin O’Hanlon, the attorney representing the schools, told the Journal. Abbott has contended his order under is valid under a state law that empowers the governor to issue such directives during times of disasters.
The Rio Grande Valley schools are the latest in Texas to stand up in opposition to Abbott. Already, the state's major school districts - including Houston, Dallas and Austin - have said they will impose mask mandates despite his order.
