Will Socorro ISD Impose A Mask Mandate Like Other Texas Schools?

The Dallas, Austin and Houston school districts have decided that they are going to buck Texas Governor Greg Abbott's ban on mask mandates in schools and they're putting mask mandates into place this week in their districts. Could an El Paso school district be next? Socorro ISD is going to be exploring the idea of a mask mandate at their regular board meeting Tuesday night which means they might be the first school district to go against Abbott's executive order.

To be fair, that order was issued during a time earlier this year when COVID numbers were going down and people were getting vaccinated. It was before the Delta variant and people deciding that they weren't going to get vaccinated. Now those numbers are going up and kids under 12 who can't get vaccinated are in classrooms and school districts can't enforce mask wearing. The Dallas, Austin, and Houston school districts say they will require students and teachers to wear masks on campus but they are wealthy districts and can afford to pay fines imposed by Abbott and fight his ban. El Paso school districts don't have that luxury so if SISD does impose a mask mandate, how long could it last if they were faced with funding cuts from Abbott's office or fines?

We asked listeners on the KISS FM mobile app how they felt about a mask mandate in El Paso schools.

From Marty: I'm "For" wearing a mask at school. No matter if you have the shot or not. None of the kids are required to wear a mask at YISD. Bad choice! As the adults we should take care of our kids and teachers.

From Luz: Masks should be enforced by school districts!

From Joanna: I think that parents should come together and just make it happen. Maybe schools are not "mandating" mask but we never listen to what gov't suggest why should this be any different.

I know that you can tell your kids to wear their masks but if they are the only ones doing it chances are they'll take it off because they don't want to stick out. They also need the direction of adults to keep them safe. That's why we tell them to buckle their seatbelts when they're in a car and why we teach them to look both ways before they cross a street. A mask mandate is just another way to keep everyone safe all at the same time. There is nothing political or nefarious about it. I hope our school districts stand with the other Texas school districts and put one in place.