BEAUMONT, Texas — Beginning Monday, Port Arthur and West Orange-Cove independent school districts are enacting mask mandates for students and staff.
The mask mandate order has not rolled over to Beaumont Independent School District. Parents still have a choice if they want to send their child to school with a face covering or not.
Beaumont ISD board members gathered Thursday night for a school board meeting. Face coverings were listed under the action items on the agenda.
As the meeting went on, the item was abandoned, and no action was taken on masks mandates.
After Thursday night's board meeting, Beaumont ISD parent Angelica Garcia was hoping her daughter’s classmates would have no choice but to show up to school and mask up.
“I feel like there's more risk of being, you know, getting sick, than if they were to make it mandatory,” Garcia said.
Board members did not discuss or vote on any measure for masks. Beaumont parent Abron Beamon is OK with that.
“I'm not upset because I don't believe that math actually helped. I believe that if someone is sick, then they should stay home,” Beamon said.
Beaumont ISD released a statement to 12news saying in part:
"Given the guidance from the Texas Education Agency and the Governor's Order, GA-38, prohibiting school districts from enforcing mask mandates, Beaumont ISD is not in the position to issue a mandate for facial coverings. However, this is not to say that this will remain the case."
Full Beaumont ISD release to 12News Friday night:
Given the fluidity of the guidance coming from the Texas Education Agency and ongoing litigation concerning the enforceability of the Governor’s Order, GA-38, prohibiting school districts from enforcing mask mandates, Beaumont ISD is not in the position to issue a mandate for facial coverings. However, this is not to say that this will remain the case.
We are continuing to monitor guidance and are following the advice of the district’s legal counsel and the local health authorities.
“BISD’s top priority is and always has been the safety of our students and staff,” said Superintendent Dr. Shannon Allen. “Masking up is an important part of mitigating the spread of COVID-19 in our schools. With this in mind, we will continue to strongly encourage our students, staff and parents to wear their masks.”We want to focus our efforts and resources on combating learning loss and providing excellent education.
Currently there is ongoing litigation across the state regarding the enforceability of the Governor’s ban on school districts implementing mask mandates. Conflicting orders from courts at all levels have created a climate in which the legal authority for a school district to issue a mandate is changing daily, even hourly at times.
The District does not want to foster an environment of confusion with the standards to attend school changing daily. BISD continues to urge all community members to assist in limiting the spread of COVID-19 and wearing an appropriate face covering when indoors.
Masks will be available for students and staff and we will continue to strongly encourage mask wearing for our students, staff and parents.
Should school districts receive clear guidance that implementing a mask mandate will not result in fines, withholding of funding, or use of much needed financial resources defending from legal action, Beaumont ISD will review the issue at that time.
Right now, we are focused on getting kids back in school, and encouraging them to mask up, wash up, and study up.
GET NEWS & WEATHER ALERTS | Download the 12News App to your mobile device
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.