North Texas parents asking for mask mandates say they had to sue school districts
Parents who tried to get several North Texas school districts to adopt mask mandates said filing a federal lawsuit was their last hope.
The parents spoke during a press conference Thursday afternoon shortly after they filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Hurst-Euless-Bedford, Grapevine-Colleyville, Frisco and the Lago Vista school districts.
The lawsuit alleges the school districts are violating the constitutional rights of students by failing to put mask mandates in place to help protect their children and others from COVID-19.
During the press conference, they described a lack of social distancing, crowded classrooms and indifference on the part of school officials.
Kathleen Thompson, who has two sons in the Grapevine-Colleyville schools, said the district doesn’t have safety measures in place.
“The board is still unmoved. We’re using the courts. We’re not like other people who want to use violence and intimidation when disagreeing against the government,” Thompson said.
Stacey Silverman, who is a Type 1 diabetic, said that she is more vulnerable to contracting COVID-19 and is concerned to see the lack of safety measures. She described crowded pep rallies with no social distancing.
A parent with the group Unified Parents of Frisco said she and others tried to get a mask mandate with petitions, protests and letters to the school board, but they could not get on the agenda to speak during meetings, she said.
“We feel that our hand was forced,” she said.
Rachel King, who has children in the Hurst-Euless Bedford school district, said she also worked to get school trustees to adopt a mask mandate.
“Six of our seven board members denied reality, denied the science, denied the facts,” she said.
Martin Cirkiel, an attorney representing the parents, said the suit alleges that the school districts are violating students’ constitutional rights under the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause.
The legal battle is over whether Gov. Greg Abbott’s order against issuing mask mandates supersedes local government codes to give school board the authority to issue mandates.
During the news conference, doctors also spoke about the importance of mask mandates and their role in helping to protect children and adults from contracting COVID-19.
Dr. Aaron Kirkpatrick said “we don’t have a good treatment for the virus, but we have good ways of protecting people from getting it,” referring to masks and vaccines.