Private religious schools in Texas can open when they want, despite COVID-19, AG says
Private religious schools may open when they want and won’t be affected by any local public health orders amid the spread of the novel coronavirus, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Friday.
His announcement came just hours after the Texas Education Agency issued a new advisory letting public schools limit in-person schooling for potentially the first two months of the 2020-21 school year — and delay the start of school — if that’s what is needed to keep students safe as coronavirus cases continue to rise.
And it came one day after health officials required all Dallas County schools to delay in-person education and extracurricular activities until after Sept. 7 because of the surge in coronavirus cases there.
Paxton’s statement said local public health orders that could restrict re-openings violate the U.S. and Texas Constitutions as well as the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
“As the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed just last week, there are robust constitutional and statutory protections unique to religious individuals and communities, specifically including religious private schools,” Paxton said in his statement. “In accordance with the protections granted by the First Amendment and Texas law, this guidance allows religious private schools to determine for themselves when to reopen free from any government mandate or interference.”
