Federal judge overturns Texas' ban on masks at schools

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says the state is "considering all legal avenues to challenge" a federal judge's decision that allows local school officials to again create their own mask rules. The ruling impacts more than 5 million Texas schoolchildren.

The decision could have national implications as several other states are fighting in courts over mask requirements for children in schools.

In his decision issued Wednesday, US District Court Judge Lee Yeakel said Texas Governor Greg Abbott's ban against mask mandates impedes children with disabilities from the benefits of public school programs, services and activities, and violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The judge also prohibited Paxton from enforcing the governor's order.

The lawsuit was filed by activist group Disability Rights Texas on behalf of several families of students with disabilities in August with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and the attorney general as defendants. They argued that the mask ban denied children with disabilities access to public education, as they are at high risk of illness and death from the virus.

"The spread of COVID-19 poses an even greater risk for children with special health needs," Yeakel said. "Children with certain underlying conditions who contract COVID-19 are more likely to experience severe acute biological effects and to require admission to a hospital and the hospital's intensive-care unit."

Kym Davis Rogers, litigation attorney with Disability Rights Texas, said in a statement that state officials cannot prevent school districts from providing accommodations to students who are especially vulnerable to the risks of COVID-19.

"No student should be forced to make the choice of forfeiting their education or risking their health, and now they won't have to," Rogers said.

Many school districts ignored Abbott's mask ban order and went with mask mandates anyway. Some school districts sued over the ban, but the Texas Supreme Court repeatedly upheld Abbott's order. However, a few school districts had rescinded their mask mandates after Abbott's order was issued.

The attorney representing the state argued that neither the attorney general nor the Texas Education Agency were enforcing the executive order, so they couldn't be sued.

However, Paxton sued several school districts over requiring masks. He also sent letters to districts threatening legal action if they didn't rescind mask mandates.

A recent poll conducted by the Texas Tribune and University of Texas has show that majority of Texans — 57 and 58 percent respectively — support mask mandates in indoor public places or in public schools. Another 40 percent and 39 percent were opposed to mask mandates in indoor public places or in public schools.

The survey was conducted on Oct 21 with a sample size of 1,200.

Attitudes toward mask mandates differ greatly along partisan lines — more than 84 percent of Democrats favor the mandates, while more than 73 percent of Republicans disapprove.

It's in line with how they view the pandemic. About 75 percent of surveyed Democrats characterized the pandemic as a "significant crisis" compared with 15 percent of Republicans.