Texas Supreme Court puts San Antonio school district’s vaccine mandate on hold

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The Texas Supreme Court halted a San Antonio school district’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for teachers and school employees Thursday — hours before the requirement was supposed to take effect.

Under the mandate, all employees of San Antonio Independent School District were supposed to get vaccinated against the virus by Friday — directly challenging Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Then-Superintendent Pedro Martinez enacted the rule in August, drawing lawsuits from Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Supreme Court justices sided with Abbott and Paxton to temporarily block the district from enforcing the mandate while the legal battle over the ban continues, but didn’t determine whether the governor’s ban or the district’s mandate are legal.

A representative for San Antonio ISD did not immediately return a request for comment.

Abbott has grown increasingly aggressive on cracking down on vaccine mandates of any kind. On Monday, the governor barred Texas employers from requiring their workers to get the COVID-19 vaccine — expanding his ban beyond cities, counties and school districts — and called on state lawmakers to send him a bill solidifying the prohibition.