Texas ban on school mask warrants sparks federal investigation

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The federal government is investigating the Texas Education Agency after estimating that its guidelines banning mask warrants in schools last week could “prevent school districts across the state from considering or meeting the needs of students with disabilities.”

The US Department of Education Office for Civil Rights launched the investigation on Tuesday, just days after the TEA quietly updated its public health guidelines. The state agency said on Friday that school districts again cannot demand face coverings, citing that the courts are not blocking Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order banning local mask warrants.

The agency did not immediately respond to the request for comment or indicate how or if it would implement the order or whether every school district in the state had been notified of the change.

In a letter to TEA Commissioner Mike Morath, federal officials said the investigation will focus on whether students with disabilities who are at greater risk of serious illness from COVID-19 are being prevented to safely return to in-person education, which would violate the federal government. right, wrote Suzanne B. Goldberg, the Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights.

Goldberg wrote that his office was concerned that the Texas mask policy would allow “equal educational opportunity for students with disabilities who are at increased risk of serious illness from COVID-19.”

The education department has launched similar surveys in Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah. He had not done so in Texas because the TEA previously did not enforce the governor’s order while there was an ongoing litigation.

Disability Rights Texas, an advocacy group, filed a federal lawsuit in late August against Abbott and Morath. The group, which has filed a lawsuit on behalf of 14 children, says the governor’s order and its enforcement by TEA denies children with disabilities access to public education because they are at high risk of illness and death. due to the virus. The group claims that because of this, the state is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which prohibits organizations and employers from excluding or denying people with disabilities an equal opportunity to receive the benefits and services of the program. The lawsuit has not yet been resolved.

The TEA guidelines released Friday are the latest development in an ongoing war on coronavirus precautions that has left school officials and parents with a whiplash over requirements are – or are not – in place.

In early August, the agency said districts could not impose masks due to the governor’s order. But as the new school year approaches, a wave of coronavirus infections and hospitalizations has prompted some local officials to bypass Abbott’s ban in order to protect teachers and schoolchildren. Coronavirus vaccines are still not approved for children under 12.

About a month after the start of this school year, the number of reported coronavirus cases among students is approaching the total for the entire 2020-21 school year. State data on school cases is incomplete and probably underestimated. TEA is removing the number of cases from some districts to protect student privacy, and not all districts report student and staff cases to the state despite agency guidelines requiring otherwise.

School districts, towns and counties have fought Abbott’s order in court, and some have obtained temporary restraining orders allowing them to require face coverings. Meanwhile, Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued several school districts he says have mask warrants, fulfilling the state’s threat to prey on districts that have defied the governor.

These lawsuits are not yet all resolved and some have so far proceeded in different ways. This created even more confusion as a patchwork of different local rules emerged across the state.

Shannon Holmes, executive director of the Association of Texas Professional Educators, said in a statement that school districts should be free to make their own decisions to protect students and staff, which includes “protecting groups of students at high risk in order to provide free of charge appropriate public education required under federal law.

The Texas Tribune has contacted school districts in Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin and Round Rock for comment, as well as the Texas State Teachers Association and the Texas Association of School Administrators. None immediately responded.

Raise Your Hand Texas, a public school advocacy group, declined to comment.

Disclosure: The Association of Texas Professional Educators, Raise Your Hand Texas, the Texas Association of School Administrators, and the Texas State Teachers Association have financially supported The Texas Tribune, a non-profit, non-partisan news organization funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial support plays no role in the journalism of the Tribune. Find a full list of them here.

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