Another Texas school district defies governor by demanding masks as Covid rises

With nearly 800 students currently in quarantine after escalating Covid-19 cases, a central Texas school district began requiring masks this week – the latest to reject Governor Greg Abbott’s preference for a ban on mandates.

The Lockhart Independent School District, located south of Austin, has 204 active cases of Covid-19, the majority of which are students, Schools Superintendent Mark Estrada said in a statement on Saturday following a 5- vote. 2 of the board of directors to impose the wearing of masks.

Estrada said the district had to close four classes and a student program after 20% or more of those students were diagnosed with the coronavirus.

In total, the school district said about 13% of its approximately 6,100 students have been quarantined.

“We expect there will be a need to close more classes in the coming weeks,” Estrada added, “and if a campus were to reach 10% or more of students across campus diagnosed with Covid-19, the district may have to start closing campuses as well, transitioning students to e-learning during the temporary campus closure. “

Uncertainty in the Lockhart Independent School District highlights greater volatility in school districts across the state and nation as students return to class for the fall and officials grapple with the delta variant highly contagious. Over the weekend, the United States has recorded 40 million cases of Covid since the start of the pandemic in early 2020 – a grim toll as hospitals in many states face a fourth wave of coronavirus and late vaccination rates are slowly increasing.

In Texas, the state health agency has seen a sharp rise in Covid-19 rates, with more than 51,900 positive student cases since it began tracking August 13 for the school year. 2021-22. The total is up from 18,000 student cases two weeks ago, according to NBC Dallas-Fort Worth.

The Texas Education Agency said last week that about four dozen school districts, representing about 42,000 students, have had to stop offering in-person classes since the start of the school year due to Covid-19. In east Texas, more than 20 districts had to close for several days to deep clean classrooms, but a majority were due to reopen on Tuesday, NBC Dallas-Fort Worth reported.

The Connally Independent School District based in suburban Waco said it would start requiring masks on Tuesday when schools reopen after being temporarily closed following the deaths of two teachers from Covid-19. One teacher was 41 and the other 59; both worked at Connally Junior High School, but school officials didn’t believe there was a correlation.

Abbott, a Republican, rebuffed calls from Democratic leaders and public health officials to impose the masks even though he tested positive for Covid-19 last month. He’s vaccinated.

In a statement last month, the governor’s office reiterated its position against a return to restrictions, saying that Abbott “has been clear that we must rely on personal responsibility, not government mandates” and that “every Texan has the right to choose for himself and his children, whether they wear masks, open their business or get vaccinated. “

Many of the state’s larger school districts have refused to follow Abbott’s July executive order banning a ban on masks and vaccines. Although the order has been upheld by the state Supreme Court, schools can continue to demand masks until the dispute is resolved.

The Texas Education Agency previously said public schools were not required to tracing contacts, but this month it changed course, saying districts must notify teachers, staff and families if a test Covid-19 in a school comes back positive.