Texas school district adds masks to dress code, finding possible loophole in Governor Abbott’s ban

Texas school gets around mask mandate by using dress code loophole, snubbing Gov. Abbott's order A school district in Texas has found a creative way to get around Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order banning mask mandates. Sudiksha Kochi USA TODAY

A school district in Texas has found a creative way to get around Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order banning mask mandates in schools.

Abbott, who tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday, issued an executive order last month that says "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 another person wear a face covering."

In response to Abbott's statewide ban, the Paris Independent School District of about 4,000 students has made masks part of the dress code policy for all schools that lie within the district. In a statement, the districts' board of trustees says it “believes the dress code can be used to mitigate communicable health issues.” ...

This kind of mask mandate loophole may not work in other states, though, according to Lindsay Wiley, a health law expert from the American University Washington College of Law. But it is possible that public universities or even local school districts could rely on some other authority, which the governor has not suspended, to impose requirements. ...