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Texas school district used a loophole to get around the governor's ban onmask mandates . - Paris Independent School District made masks part of the school's dress code.
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Greg Abbott issued an executive order in May preventing businesses and public schools from mandating masks or vaccines.
A school district in Texas is requiring face masks as part of its dress code in defiance of Governor Greg Abbott's
The Paris Independent School District made the change to its dress code to get around Abbott's ban on local mask mandates.
"The Texas Governor does not have the authority to usurp the Board of Trustees' exclusive power and duty to govern and oversee the management of the public schools of the district," the school district said in a press release. "Nothing in the Governor's Executive Order 38 states he has suspended Chapter 11 of the Texas Education Code, and therefore the Board has elected to amend its dress code consistent with its statutory authority."
Paris ISD is the latest school system to defy the governor's orders after school districts in Houston, Dallas, and Austin said they would require masks in the upcoming school year.
Abbott has fought against mask and
He issued an executive order in May to prevent businesses and public schools from upholding mask or vaccine mandates. Several counties attempted to defy the governor's orders via court rulings, however, the Texas Supreme Court temporarily ruled in the governor's favor and overruled the lower courts to prevent mask requirements in public schools.
The governor announced on Tuesday that tested positive for COVID-19. He said he was asymptomatic and is currently receiving monoclonal-antibody treatment.
COVID-19 cases are skyrocketing in the state of Texas as an average of 15,577 people new cases are arising each day, according to a 7-day average from the New York Times' COVID-19 tracker.