14 children with disabilities sue Texas gov. to end ban on mask mandates in schools

AUSTIN, Texas — Opening a new legal front against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on mask mandates, a disability rights group has filed a federal lawsuit arguing that the prohibition should be struck down for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The lawsuit, filed in Austin by Disability Rights Texas on behalf of 14 children with cerebral palsy, asthma and other conditions that put them at a higher health risk, said Abbott’s executive order banning mandatory masks prevents their safe return to school amid a worsening COVID-19 outbreak.

The result is an “unlawful barrier” that is preventing school districts from providing a safe learning environment for their most vulnerable students, the lawsuit said.

“Having to make a choice between my daughter’s education or her life — what kind of choice is that?” said Julia Longoria, whose 8-yearold attends school in San Antonio and is part of the lawsuit.

Longoria said her daughter, identified as JR in the lawsuit, has asthma, a growth hormone deficiency and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and needs in-person instruction to succeed in school.

JR’s health is at risk if schools open at full capacity with masks optional while the highly infectious delta variant is producing a surge in COVID19 infections, the lawsuit said.

Lawyer Tom Melsheimer said the ban on mandatory masks requires parents to choose between exposing medically fragile children to a severe illness or keeping them at home, where they receive a fraction of the education and lose interaction to students without a disability.

“Either outcome is a violation of students’ rights ... and both are wholly avoidable,” said Melsheimer, one of the lawyers with the Winston & Strawn law firm who worked on the lawsuit at no charge.

Abbott — insisting that Texans, not governments, are in charge of health decisions — issued a July 29 executive order that banned cities, counties, school districts and public health officials from requiring masks to be worn indoors.