TRO extended on mask mandate suit

A Travis County state district court judge has extended a temporary restraining order in the lawsuit the Brownsville Independent School District and 19 other school districts filed against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order lifting mask mandates and other COVID-19 restrictions. 

On Aug. 27, 419th District Court Judge Catherine A. Mauzy extended the TRO initially granted by 345th District Court Judge Jan Soifer on Aug. 13 to BISD and other school districts in the Rio Grande Valley, which allows the districts to require students to wear masks in school. 

David Campbell, an attorney for BISD and the other Rio Grande Valley school districts that filed lawsuits against Gov. Abbott’s order, provided The Rider with information and documents on the extended restraining order.

The order states “Greg Abbott … and officials … are prohibited from enforcing the portions of GA-38 related to face coverings against plaintiffs [BISD and ECISD] … until further order of this court or until this court issues a final judgment in the above-styled and numbered action, whichever event happens first.”

In late July, Abbott issued Executive Order GA-38, which lifted COVID-19 restrictions and prohibited the requirement of face coverings in businesses and public institutions, among other things. 

“The new Executive Order emphasizes that the path forward relies on personal responsibility … Texans … have the individual right and responsibility to decide for themselves and their children whether they will wear masks, open their businesses, and engage in leisure activities,” the governor’s news release states. 

The order also states that the most effective way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is to get vaccinated.

However, with the highly contagious delta variant running rampant, data, research and recorded cases show that the most vulnerable population to this variant strain of the virus are elementary school students and children under 12 years old who do not qualify for vaccination against COVID-19, said René Gutiérrez, superintendent of the Brownsville Independent School District.

Several school districts in the Rio Grande Valley, including BISD and Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District, have established mask mandates in all of their schools, as well as filed lawsuits against Abbott’s ban of requiring masks in school. 

“We’re not challenging the governor,” Gutiérrez told The Rider on Aug. 25. “We’re trying to be flexible, and to give us [at the local level] the choice and decision based on how the situation is going. We can’t stop the spread of COVID-19, but we can slow it down by requiring students to wear a mask.” 

Despite the safety measures taken by BISD and other school districts to keep students safe, COVID-19 cases are still on the rise, and some parents have concerns about sending their children to school, especially those who have younger children who are not eligible to get vaccinated. 

On Sept. 1, Cameron County reported an additional 198 reports of COVID-19 cases. Among unaccompanied minor shelters and detention centers, there were 43 cases of COVID-19. This brings the total confirmed cases to 49,587.

On Sept. 2, Hidalgo County reported 460 COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 108,717. 

“I don’t think schools are prepared to handle a mass COVID outbreak,” said Monica Hernandez-Lara, a parent of a child who attends a BISD school. “The moment you expose a child [to COVID], you expose a whole family.” 

Before the start of the school year, Gutiérrez said BISD surveyed parents regarding implementing a mask mandate in schools, with 97% of respondents being in favor of requiring students, faculty and staff to wear masks in school. 

However, there are still parents who do not want to send their children to in-person classes. 

“Kids younger than 12 should not be attending school,” said Iliana Hernandez, another parent whose child attends a BISD school. “Parents should decide whether their children should go to school, especially those younger than 12.”

The Rider contacted the governor’s press office regarding the reasoning behind the mask mandate ban but, as of Aug. 25, it had not responded to requests for comment.