Delta variant, lax mask policies delay Plano family’s return to school

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The spread of the delta variant — particularly among children in recent months — coupled with the governor’s now-defunct order forbidding mask mandates, upended a lot of parents’ plans for the school year.

For Carmen Campbell, a rheumatologist in Plano, it meant keeping her son, Bobby, home for at least the start of third grade. But not everyone feels that way.

Mask mandates have divided parents in districts across the state who, like Gov. Greg Abbott, say the path forward in the pandemic relies on personal responsibility rather than government overreach.

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