Garland ISD announced plans to intervene in the lawsuit challenging Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins’ decision to order a mask mandate in response to the most recent surge of COVID-19 cases.
In a letter to Garland ISD families and staff Wednesday, Superintendent Ricardo Lopez said the decision is not for political reasons or to “push one agenda over another,” but to help the district clarify its COVID-19 policies and which order it is supposed to follow.
Jenkins issued an emergency order Wednesday requiring masks in Dallas County schools and businesses after a judge decided that the governor’s executive order precluding local mask mandates was “not [a] necessary action to combat the pandemic.”
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton are challenging the new rules in court, arguing that individual Texans should be responsible for choosing whether to wear a mask.
Garland ISD spokeswoman Sherese Lightfoot told The Dallas Morning News on Friday that the district is evaluating legal options and has not filed a lawsuit.
‘We’re just seeking clarity on what mandate to follow,” Lightfoot said.
The district said it plans to follow Jenkins’ county mask mandate while the state’s lawsuit is pending.
“Our number one goal is, and has always been, to provide students with a safe and effective educational environment where all students feel comfortable and can achieve their potential,” Lopez said at the end of the letter.
“We look forward to a safe and productive...
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