Greg Abbott's refusal to block restraining orders against the mask mandate ban, the justices referred Attorney General Ken Paxton's appeal to the Third Texas Court of Appeals in Austin for hearing. The court did not issue an opinion for its decision.
The Texas Education Agency said Thursday that the move came on the same day that the Texas Education Agency suspended enforcement in the state's public school system of a ban on Abbott's mask requirements.
In a public health guidance letter, the TEA said enforcement was dropped because of ongoing court challenges to the ban. The new guidelines have come into force with immediate effect & further guidelines will be issued after the resolution of the case, the letter said.
In an emergency order issued last month, Abbott reaffirmed his ban on mask mandates by any government entity, although federal agencies have made masks mandatory in their facilities. Governor & Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has said he will sue any entity that does not comply with the emergency order. No such case has been registered. The Texas Supreme Court upheld the ban in a previous ruling, but that didn't stop dozens of entities from wearing masks.
The Supreme Court's ruling came in some cases filed in state district court in Austin. The state's most populous county, as well as several South Texas school districts, won temporary legal victories on Friday as they seek to end Governor Greg Abbott's ban on mask mandates, which he argued has been the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic. making it worse.
Before she issued the temporary restraining order, state District Judge Jan Soifer said she was upset that Abbott's executive order was "restricting a requirement that schools & local authorities & the people who depend on Texas generally are necessary to make decisions for their citizens."
The TEA letter recommended that public school systems consult with local public health officials & legal counsel before making a final decision. If a test confirms a COVID-19 case in a classroom or extra-curricular activity, the districts will have to inform their teachers, staff members & families. The state had earlier recommended only such notification.
The TEA guidance was issued in the wake of several court challenges by parents, advocates for children with disabilities, & local governments & school boards. Despite Abbott's ban, seven counties & 48 school districts have implemented mask mandates. A state district court judge also granted restraining orders to Harris County & several South Texas school districts that allow those entities to proceed with masked mandates. Another state district judge issued an order Thursday allowing Fort Bend County, which is affiliated with Harris County, to order the wearing of masks in county buildings.
As of August 8, the most recent total available from the Texas Department of State Health Services, 829 students & 872 staff members had tested positive for COVID-19. On Monday, the Iran-Sheffield Independent School District in West Texas closed its schools for two weeks so that students & staff can quarantine because of COVID-19.
The push for masking & social distancing came as the number of Covid-19 cases continued to rise across Texas, largely due to the highly contagious Delta version of the coronavirus. The rolling seven-day average of daily new cases in Texas was 16,000 on Tuesday, compared to 1,495 on June 30, according to research data from Johns Hopkins University. Texas COVID-19 hospitalization levels not seen since late January saw 12,705 hospitalizations as of Wednesday, state health officials said.
As hospitals fill beds, particularly in intensive care units, Abbott called on the Texas State Health Services Department to import medical personnel from out-of-state staffing agencies to supplement the COVID-19 operations of Texas health care facilities. instructed to use. He nonetheless stuck to his mask-mandate ban.