School District in Dallas Issues Mask Mandate Defying Texas Gov. Order

School children wear facemasks while talking at a sculpture garden in the Museum District in Houston, Texas, on March 10, 2021. Mark Felix/AFP /AFP via Getty Images

A school district based in Dallas, Texas, on Monday issued a temporary mask mandate for students and staff on its campuses and facilities, a move that runs counter to an executive order that Gov. Greg Abbott issued earlier this year.

The Dallas Independent School District (ISD), the second-largest school district in Texas, said in an announcement that the order is effective Aug. 10 as students return to classrooms. The order was issued “to protect staff and students from the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus.”