Skip to content
The COVID Project
  1. Library
  2. Education and Child Care
  3. SEC-15-047

Ex. SEC-15-047 Order Primary source read

Executive Order GA-38

Relating to the continued response to the COVID-19 disaster (consolidation of GA-34, GA-35, GA-36; no governmental mask mandates; no vaccine passports)

Governor Greg Abbott · Texas (State)

The COVID Project

The record

Jurisdiction
Texas
Level
State
Authority
Tex. Gov't Code ch. 418, sections 418.012,.016,.018(c),.173
Issued
2021-07-29 July 29, 2021
Effective
2021-07-29
End
In force through Q3 2021 and beyond; enjoined as to school mask requirements Nov. 10, 2021 (E.T. v. Paxton, W.D. Tex.), reversed Dec. 1, 2021 (5th Cir.); Texas Supreme Court stays of Aug. 15 and Aug. 26, 2021 against Dallas and Bexar County orders (read as 2021-11-10)
In force
July 29, 2021 to Nov. 10, 2021
Quarters
2021 Q3
Limitation types
Face-covering requirementSchools and child careVaccination or testingOther
Addressees
  • every governmental entity, including a county, city, school district and public health authority
  • public schools (TEA minimum standards)
  • private schools and institutions of higher education (paragraph 3(e))
Functions reached
  • IN
  • TR
  • AC
  • WF
  • CB
  • HR
Collection
Education and Child Care SEC-15

Operative words

3.... e. Public schools may operate as provided by, and under the minimum standard health protocols found in, guidance issued by the Texas Education Agency. Private schools and institutions of higher [education are encouraged to establish similar standards]... 4. To further ensure that no governmental entity can mandate masks, the following requirements shall continue to apply: a. No governmental entity, including a county, city, school district, and public health authority, and no governmental official may require any person to wear a face covering or to mandate that another person wear a face covering...

Enforcement

Tex. Gov't Code 418.173: fine up to $1,000 (paragraph 4)

Notes

Dallas, Bexar, Travis, Harris and Fort Bend Counties and dozens of districts imposed school mask requirements in August 2021 in defiance of GA-38; the Texas Supreme Court stayed the county TROs Aug. 15 and Aug. 26, 2021; TEA announced Aug. 19, 2021 that it would not enforce the mask provision during the litigation. Every Texas school operated inside that conflict for the whole of Q3 2021.

Retrieval note

Litigation dates from Ex. SEC-15-003 (Aug. 10, Aug. 15, Nov. 10, Dec. 1, 2021).