U.S. Dept. Of Education Investigates TEA Over Mask Ban In Schools

Austin TX

22 September, 2021

10:46 AM

Description

AUSTIN, TX — The U.S. Department of Education is investigating the Texas Education Agency after deeming that its guidance prohibiting mask mandates in schools last week may be violating the civil rights of students with disabilities. The department's office for Civil Rights launched the investigation on Tuesday, a fews days after TEA "quietly updated" its public health guidance. According to the agency's new guidance, per GA-38, "school systems cannot require students or staff to wear a mask. This includes government-mandated face coverings in response to the COVID-19 pandemic." Live in Austin? Click here to subscribe to our free breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox and mobile devices. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and download our free mobile app on Android or iPhone. In a letter to TEA Commissioner Mike Morath, federal officials said the investigation will focus on whether or not students with disabilities who are at greater risk for severe illness from COVID-19 are prevented from safely returning to in-person education, which would violate federal law, wrote Suzanne B. Goldberg, the acting assistant secretary for civil rights. Goldberg wrote that her office is worried that Texas' mask policy does not allow for "an equal educational opportunity to students with disabilities who are at heightened risk of severe illness from COVID-19." The TEA's guidance released Friday is the latest development in an ongoing war over coronavirus precautions that has left school officials and parents with whiplash about what requirements are — or aren't — in place. The education department has launched similar investigations in Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah, according to the Texas Tribune. The outlet reports the federal agency had not yet launched an investigation in Texas because the TEA was previously not enforcing the governor's order while there was ongoing litigation. At this time, those lawsuits aren't all yet resolved and some have so far played out in different ways. On Friday, A state district judge in Williamson County temporarily blocked Round Rock ISD from enforcing its mask mandate. The school district is one of six that are being sued by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for defying Gov. Greg Abbott's ban on mask mandates in public schools. Dozens of school districts across the state have chosen to defy the ban by enforcing their own mask mandates. This is a result of a spike in coronavirus cases in early August and regional hospitals reaching overcapacity in their intensive care units. While the state has threatened districts of litigation if they choose to enforce a mask mandate, many districts have fought back by winning temporary restraining orders to allow them to keep face masks in schools.