UPDATE: Since this article was originally published, district officials have said the mask mandate issue will now be taken up in a meeting scheduled for Wednesday, September 22.
ROUND ROCK, Texas (Talk1370.com) -- Debate over a mask mandate in Round Rock ISD will continue Saturday, after a board meeting Tuesday night was cut short due to a number of "public disruptions."
Among the agenda items that trustees were set to discuss on Tuesday night was an extension of the district's mask mandate, which is currently set to expire on Friday.
According to the district, board meetings have been held with a limited capacity due to the pandemic - including a limited number of socially distanced chairs available inside the meeting room. An additional overflow room was set up, with a live television feed of the meeting.
Those capacity limitations angered a number of parents trying to attend the meeting, some of whom then tried to bring their own chairs into the main meeting room. At least one individual was removed by police officers, and trustees spent several minutes debating the capacity restrictions, finally prompting a 5-2 vote to uphold the restrictions.
Trustee Danielle Weston, who along with fellow trustee Dr. Mary Bone voted against the capacity restrictions, finally left the meeting entirely. "I just want to say that due to the hostility directed to the public tonight, and my concerns about violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act, this is a failure of leadership and I am leaving. This is a failure of leadership," said Weston.
Related
Trustees were set to consider a so-called "mask matrix" option, which would tie the district's ongoing mask mandate to the risk stages used by the Williamson County and Cities Health District and Austin Public Health. For example, under the matrix system, masks would continue to be required in RRISD until Austin Public Health falls back to Stage 3.
Round Rock is one of a number of school districts that have been named in a series of lawsuits by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over mask mandates that are in violation of Gov. Greg Abbott's executive order GA-38.
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