Texas school district bucks Abbott's ban on mask mandates, changes dress code for students

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The board of trustees for a public school district in Texas changed its dress code to include face masks in a bid to get around Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on face mask mandates. 

"The Board of Trustees is concerned about the health and safety of its students and employees. The Board believes the dress code can be used to mitigate communicable health issues, and therefore has amended the PISD dress code to protect our students and employees," the Paris Independent School District said in a statement Tuesday. 

The district added that Abbott does not have the authority "to usurp" the board’s "exclusive power and duty to govern and oversee the management of the public schools of the district."

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"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," the district continued. 

Abbott signed an executive order last month banning mask mandates or COVID-19 vaccine requirements from government agencies and schools. 

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"To further ensure that no governmental entity can mandate masks, the following requirement shall continue to apply: No governmental entity, including a county, city, school district, and public health authority, and no governmental official may require any person to wear a face-covering or to mandate that other person wear a covering," the executive order read.

"Today’s executive order will provide clarity and uniformity in the Lone Star State’s continued fight against COVID-19," Abbott said of the order last month. 

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Abbott's press secretary Renae Eze told Fox News later on Wednesday of the Paris Independent School District's move: "We are all working to protect Texas children and those most vulnerable among us, but violating the Governor’s executive orders—and violating parental rights—is not the way to do it."

"Governor Abbott has been clear that the time for mask mandates is over; now is the time for personal responsibility. Under Executive Order GA-38, no governmental entity or school district can require or mandate the wearing of masks. There is no loophole. While a school district cannot mandate or prohibit masks, parents and guardians have the right to decide whether their child will wear a mask or not. The best defense against this virus is the COVID vaccines, and we continue to strongly encourage all eligible Texans to get vaccinated," the statement added. 

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The district’s move comes as other red states have banned mask requirements in schools, including in Florida, where the state board of education voted unanimously on Tuesday to sanction two public school districts that are mandating mask wearing in defiance of Gov. Ron DeSantis’s executive order.