(USNewsMag.com) – In May, Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) signed an executive order prohibiting state government entities from enforcing mask mandates. The governor included schools in the order because he believes parents, not the state, should decide what their children do to stay safe. Students may wear masks if they choose, but schools can not mandate the wearing of face coverings. Now, it seems one school district figured out a way to try to get around the directive.
On August 17, the Paris Independent School District (PISD) voted 5-1 to make masks part of the countywide school dress code. The roughly 4,000 students in the district must now follow the measure which reads, “For health reasons, masks are required for all employees and students to mitigate flu, cold, pandemic and any other communicable diseases.”
In a statement, the PISD said it believes it can use the dress code to limit the spread of a virus.
One Texas school district finds a clever loophole around Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on a mask mandate.
The Paris Independent School District voted to make masks part of the dress code, where the governor’s executive order has no authority.https://t.co/faXFSjZsb2
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) August 18, 2021
The statement went on to say the school district has the sole power to govern and oversee the management of the district. In an email to the Washington Post, Abbott’s spokeswoman, Renae Eze, accused the school board of violating the governor’s order and parental rights in the county. She said there’s no loophole in the order that allows board members to add the mandate to the dress code.
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