Updated at 5:30 p.m.: Revised to include comments from Todd Webster, former acting Texas Education Commissioner and current lobbyist at HillCo Partners.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a guidance letter to the state’s private religious schools on Friday stating that they “need not comply” to recent local and county health orders barring in-person instruction until after Labor Day.
“As protected by the First Amendment and Texas law, religious private schools may continue to determine when it is safe for their communities to resume in-person instruction free from any government mandate or interference,” Paxton’s letter read. “Religious private schools therefore need not comply with local public health orders to the contrary.”
Dallas County officials issued such an order Thursday, as the county hit its 14th consecutive day with 1,000 or more new cases of COVID-19.
Dallas’ order, issued by Dr. Philip Huang, the local health authority for the city and county, stated that all of the county’s school systems, public and private, could not conduct in-person classes until after Sept. 7, although instruction could begin in a virtual-only format.
School-sponsored extracurricular events, including athletics, could not take place until on-campus classes are allowed, the order stated.
Much like cities issuing occupancy certificates or local health departments shutting down restaurants that fail food safety inspections, local and county officials hold the authority to post such orders, said Todd Webster, an education lobbyist with Austin-based HillCo Partners, the former mayor of Kyle and the former acting Texas education commissioner in 2012.
“In this particular instance, for health and safety reasons, they are permitted to issue these types of orders to the extent that it doesn’t countermand existing laws or executive orders,” Webster said.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/dmn/IGVHJK5GJRBOTPRI6WVE6K43M4.JPG)
Other governmental jurisdictions in El Paso, Laredo and Austin’s Travis County issued similar orders within the past week. San Antonio issued its own order on Friday afternoon.
Because Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive orders addressing the COVID-19 crisis explicitly prohibited local governments from closing religious institutions, or requiring specific mitigation strategies from them, local governments “are similarly prohibited from issuing blanket orders closing religious private schools,” Paxton said.
“Because a local order closing a religious private school or institution is inconsistent with the governor’s order, any local order is invalid to the extent it purports to do so,” the guidance letter read.
Webster, an attorney, said given the tenor and form of Paxton’s letter, he would categorize it as advice to private religious schools, not as a binding opinion from the attorney general.
If a religious school was to challenge a local or county health order in court, or defy the order and force a local jurisdiction to attempt to enforce it, Paxton’s letter points to a possible legal argument that a school could use, Webster said.
Huang, director of Dallas County Health and Human Services, said Friday he doesn’t think it wise or safe to move ahead with in-person instruction right now.
“That’s all we are trying to do, is to protect our students,” he said. “I would make the same recommendation to any schools.”
By setting the opening date as Sept. 8, the county will have time to see the impacts of a statewide mask requirement and whether the infection rate slows.
In the meantime, the county is also convening a panel of experts, which includes superintendents, teachers and pediatric infectious disease specialists, to assist with additional recommendations.
”Based on what we are seeing now it seems prudent not to do in-person class until at least Sept. 8,” he said.
Thirty-three private schools are affiliated with the Dallas Catholic Diocese. In a statement released Friday, the diocese said it was aware of both the Dallas County order and the Texas Attorney General’s ruling regarding the start of in-person classes.
“We are reviewing all options,” said the statement, attributed to Superintendent Matt Vereecke. “Parents will be hearing from their local schools within the next week with their revised plans for the fall and next steps.”
Since May, the diocesan Catholic schools have been developing health and safety protocols to “allow in-person classes to resume safely this fall. These plans have been vetted and comply with rigorous standards and recommendations from health experts on how to keep students, teachers and staff safe,” the statement said.
On Thursday, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said that a member of the Catholic Diocese, an administrator from a private school organization, and several heads of schools at Dallas-area private schools took part in a conference call with Huang, Jenkins and public school officials. The response from the order was positive, Jenkins said.
Attempts to reach Jenkins on Friday were unsuccessful.
Jason Lovvorn, the head of school and head football coach at Dallas’ First Baptist Academy, said the school was “thankful to see Attorney General Paxton’s new order, and we are in complete agreement with his decision to protect the religious liberty of religious private schools in the state of Texas."
FBA is planning to open its doors on Aug. 10, Lovvorn said, “but we are continuing to monitor that daily.”
With fewer than 300 students, Lovvorn said his school’s strategy was to “go overboard when it comes to minimizing person-to-person exposure so that we can continue school in-person when someone tests positive for COVID-19.”
Unaffected by Dallas County’s order, officials at Collin County’s Prestonwood Christian Academy said the school would reopen both campuses on Aug. 19. A spokesman, Jonathan Williams, said four task forces had been established to ensure a safe and successful reopening and that classes would be offered both in-person and online. Paxton attends Prestonwood Baptist Church, which is affiliated with the academy.
Texas State Rep. Jeff Leach, a Republican whose district covers Plano and Allen ISDs, thanked Paxton on social media for his “steadfast commitment to safeguarding our fundamental liberties.”
Really important guidance for our private and parochial schools regarding the commencement of the 2020-21 school year. Thank you, @KenPaxtonTX for your steadfast commitment to safeguarding our fundamental liberties. https://t.co/LZOfeI3qNT
— Jeff Leach (@leachfortexas) July 17, 2020
"general" - Google News
July 18, 2020 at 05:45AM
https://ift.tt/3hb97tL
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says private religious schools ‘need not comply’ with local orders - The Dallas Morning News
"general" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2YopsF9
https://ift.tt/3faOei7
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says private religious schools ‘need not comply’ with local orders - The Dallas Morning News"
Post a Comment