Round Rock student asks Abbott to allow schools to mandate masks

Round Rock ISD sixth-grader Ozair Mohiuddin has started a petition to ask Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to allow public schools to require masks.

ROUND ROCK, Texas - A Round Rock middle schooler is asking Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to reconsider his ban on mask mandates in public schools.

Entering Cedar Valley Middle School for the first time, 11-year-old Ozair Mohiuddin is just six months shy of the cutoff age for the only shot he’s ever actually wanted.

"For him it’s a bigger issue, because he has acute asthma. So for him, he needs to be vaccinated, but he’s right at the cusp of it. Cannot get it," said Khona Mohiuddin, Ozair’s mother.

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Ozair’s asthma puts him in a higher risk category for complications if he were to get COVID-19. "I don’t want to have to go to a hospital," said Ozair.

When he found out Gov. Abbott signed an executive order banning any government entity, including school districts, from mandating masks, he asked his mother to create a petition encouraging the state leader to reconsider.

"I would like him to make it where schools can decide whether they want masks or not want masks," Ozair said.

Khona and more than 350 other supporters agree. "If my son, who has acute asthma, is wearing a mask, I think those other kids can if we have the mandate," Khona said.

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"We’ve done it last year. What has changed? The virus is still there," she added.

If the message from Ozair falls short of changing the governor’s mind, it could mean the soon-to-be sixth grader has to choose between his education and his health. He struggles to understand why anyone would allow children to take such a big risk over something he considers such a small gesture.

"It’s not that bad, it’s just a mask," said Ozair.

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