File photo
File photo
The head of the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District rescinded a school control order issued late last month in accordance with a directive from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
W-MCPHD Local Health Authority Dr. Farley Verner had recommended that McLennan County schools stay close at the start of the 2020-2021 academic year to slow the spread of COVID-19. Verner enacted the school control order on July 21, but Paxton opined that Verner and his counterparts statewide do not have the power to shutter schools on a purely preventive basis.
Guidelines established by both the Texas Education Agency and the University Interscholastic League have also superseded local health authorities.
“These actions by state agencies [and] officials, as well as the UIL, have rendered orders issued by local health authorities such as McLennan County Public Health ineffectual,” W-MCPHD said in a statement released on July 28. “These actions have vested authority in the local school boards to select opening dates and establish parameters for school operations — all in accordance with state guidelines.”
The department suggests that classes begin on Sept. 8.
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