AUSTIN - Attorney General Ken Paxton is applauding a recent Texas Supreme Court decision to temporarily stop enforcement of San Antonio ISD’s vaccine policy requiring that all its employees be vaccinated for COVID-19.
The high court’s order was released on Oct. 14 – a day before SAISD’s mandate was to go into effect.
Gov. Greg Abbott’s Executive Order GA-39 prohibits local entities from enforcing vaccine mandates.
Paxton argued that San Antonio ISD blatantly violated the law by forcing employees to get vaccinated or be terminated from employment.
The district argued that its vaccine mandate is the status quo because it predates the governor’s order banning all COVID-19 vaccine mandates by a matter of days.
“No local entity is above state law.” Attorney General Paxton said. “I am glad to see that the Supreme Court of Texas has again confirmed that the governor’s decisions control at both the state and local levels.
“This decision should serve as a reminder to all Texas school districts that they should be using their limited funds on educating children and equipping teachers, not defending unlawful vaccine mandates.”
Because of the Texas SC order, all employees of SAISD are not required to be vaccinated at this time and cannot be terminated for not being vaccinated.
In the event that any SAISD employees are terminated, Paxton says they should contact the Texas Attorney General’s office immediately.
The petition for writ of mandamus remains pending before the high court.