DALLAS — A new Texas appeals court decision issued Thursday sided with school districts in the ongoing battle over mask mandates.
The decision came after 19 school districts — including Dallas, Lancaster, DeSoto and Fort Worth — sued the state last year over the governor’s ban on school mask mandates.
A trial court previously granted a temporary injunction on the governor’s ban on mask mandates, but attorneys for the state appealed. On Thursday, Texas’ Third Court of Appeals agreed with the trial court’s decision, reinstating the injunction.
Because the governor’s order “prohibits schools from requiring the use of face covering as a means of controlling the spread of COVID-19 within their jurisdictions, it inflicts an irreparable injury on school districts and community college districts,” Justice Chari L. Kelly wrote in the opinion.
It’s unclear the impact that this decision will have on school district operations as most Texas schools have dropped their mask mandates for students and staff amid a decline in COVID cases and widespread availability of vaccines.
Representatives with the governor’s and attorney general’s offices did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The legal fight over whether school districts should be allowed to mandate masks has stretched past the point in the pandemic where most leaders want to require them.
Still, this decision could have ramifications in the future should COVID-19 variants lead to another spike that forces district officials to reconsider.
Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, first banned schools and any other governmental entity from issuing mask mandates last July, kicking off legal battles and back-and-forth debates over local control throughout the state.
Dallas ISD was the first district to officially flout the governor’s prohibition on requiring masks. Superintendent Michael Hinojosa said the face coverings were necessary to protect students and staff amid rising case counts and while no pediatric vaccine was available.
Now, the coronavirus vaccine is approved for those 5 years old and older. As of late February, the district announced a shift to recommending masks rather than requiring them.
The ongoing fight pitted superintendents against Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, who kept a public, evolving list of districts flouting state orders.
Paxton eventually sued several districts, though refrained from filing a lawsuit against Dallas ISD and Hinojosa.
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