Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s latest guidance letter says school leaders should make decisions on whether to close campuses as a preventative measure. County public health authorities delaying in-person classes can’t do so indiscriminately to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks they fear will happen at a future date, the Texas attorney general said in a guidance letter issued Tuesday.
Local health authorities can make that call when responding to immediate outbreaks and quarantine needs, Paxton said in his letter. But they can’t issue blanket orders keeping schools closed simply as a preventative measure. “Rather, their role is limited by statute to addressing specific, actual outbreaks of disease. School officials, both public and private, are the appropriate ones to decide whether, when, and how to open school.”
