Judge Bans Governor’s Ban

U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order prohibiting mask mandates in schools violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, freeing local officials to create their own rules again. The ruling comes after a months-long legal dispute between parents, a disability rights organization, and Texas officials over whether the state violated the 1990 law, known as the ADA, by not allowing school districts to require masks. U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel barred Attorney General Ken Paxton from enforcing Abbott’s order. The judge said the governor’s order impedes children with disabilities from benefiting from public schools’ programs, services, and activities to which they are entitled.