As the Texas war over mask mandates continues in school board meetings, state legislators decided not to interfere, and no bill is proposed to end confusion.
On Aug. 7,Gov. Greg Abbott called on Texas legislators to pass a bill that would ban schools from enforcing face coverings. However, the issue with face coverings seems to have been overlooked in a special session that also involved voter restriction laws and the forbidding of teachings of critical race theory.
As Texas legislators missed the deadline to propose a bill, school districts are left to mitigate the situation.
Kingsville Independent School District (KISD) adopted a temporary mask mandate that went into effect Aug. 23 and is set to last 45 days.
According to a press release by KISD all students, faculty, staff and visitors must properly wear a face mask at all times while indoors at KISD facilities.
All KISD vehicles will also enforce face coverings when more than one occupant is in the vehicle.
With almost three weeks into the scholastic year, KISD has reported 65 positive cases.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recorded that over the past two weeks, COVID-19 cases in children increased by 10 percent.
The CDC is still recommending for individuals to wear masks while encouraging others to get vaccinated.
However, children younger than 12 years old are not eligible for a vaccine. With no accessible vaccines on top of no mask mandates, America’s health is predetermined to fail.
Although we all want a return to normalcy, children shouldn’t pay the price for our government’s ignorance. Mask mandates should be obligatory in schools to halt the spread of COVID-19.
