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Several large Texas districts defying Abbott's mask ban

Dallas, San Antonio, Austin districts requiring masks
Greg Abbott
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AUSTIN, Texas — More opposition to Gov. Greg Abbott's failure to make masks mandatory across the state is sparking public outrage.

Several Texas school districts are making masks mandatory even though Abbott has banned such mandates.

The Austin ISD school board held a special meeting last night.

They voted to require masks at all their campuses and district offices.

The order kicks in tomorrow despite Abbott's ban.

Dozens of parents and staff members held a rally outside the meeting to express their concerns for their children during the latest surge of COVID-19 cases.

"I just want to say to AISD, to the trustees that this is not a drill, that our parents are in danger," one parent said.

Another parent echoed those sentiments.

"More of those children are coming in symptomatic and sicker than we saw at the beginning through this pandemic," they said.

And today, San Antonio and Bexar County filed a lawsuit against Abbott's mask mandate ban.

They have been granted a temporary restraining order that allows them to impose a mask mandate.

Yesterday, the Dallas ISD did what the Austin ISD did and made masks mandatory by making masks mandatory for their districts.

Houston ISD will consider a similar requirement later this week.

The governor has warned that violating his ban could lead to a $1,000 fine for each violation.