SUGAR LAND, Texas – Fort Bend Independent School District announced Saturday that its mask mandate for students and staff has been lifted.
The district issued the following statement on Saturday:
The District and its legal team have continued to monitor the ongoing lawsuits challenging Governor Abbott’s Executive Order GA-38, which prohibits local governments from having mask mandates. The state-wide temporary restraining orders issued by courts in Travis County restraining Governor Abbott from enforcing the parts of Executive Order GA-38 that bar mask mandates are no longer in place. While the lawsuits Challenging Executive Order GA-38 are not over, right now the provisions of Executive Order GA-38 that bar mask mandates are effective. In light of this legal development, at this time, the District is not requiring the wearing of masks. The District continues to strongly urge employees, students, parents, and visitors to wear a mask.
The change came days after the mask mandate was approved by the district’s Board of Trustees on Monday, Aug. 23 during a scheduled board workshop.
“Since Monday when the mandate was approved, the district administration has worked to develop mask protocols using recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control, local and state health experts, and the district’s medical advisory team,” the district said in a statement on Wednesday. “Protocols include accommodations for mask use during student activities such as band, choir, and athletics, and for children with special needs.”
READ MORE: Fort Bend ISD’s Pecan Grove Elementary School temporarily switches to virtual learning
As the county battles the surge of COVID-19 cases and the delta variant, FBISD stated that in an effort to mitigate the spread of the virus, it made the decision for the elementary school to go virtual starting Tuesday, Aug. 24 through Friday, Aug. 27.