Texas officials can delay start of school, switch to online for first four weeks, TEA says
Texas schools can limit in-person schooling for the first four weeks of the 2020-21 school year — and delay the start of school — if that’s what is needed to keep students safe as coronavirus cases continue to rise, according to a Texas Education Agency advisory released Friday.
Schools may delay in-person classes for another four weeks if they ask for and receive a waiver from the state.
“These changes give the needed flexibility for schools to effectively provide a smooth transition for students, teachers, and staff so that they will experience the safest and least disruptive mode of learning during the beginning of the school year,” according to a TEA statement.
Any student who doesn’t have access to reliable technology, though, would be able to attend classes in person during the “transition period.” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Friday that the state will use $200 million in federal aid to buy computers and internet access to help families without to technology.
More needs to be done, Texas State Teachers Association President Ovidia Molina said in a statement.
“The state education commissioner has given school districts additional time to reopen school buildings without a financial penalty, but irrelevant deadlines are not what educators and students need,” Molina said. “Educators, students and their parents need assurance that school buildings will not be reopened until it is safe to do so. Right now, with the pandemic still raging across Texas, we don’t know when that will be.
“We demand that Gov. Abbott issue a statewide order that all school buildings remain closed and all instruction be provided remotely until the pandemic has clearly begun to subside and it is safe to reopen school buildings under strict safety standards.”
The TEA advisory came shortly after Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley and about 60 school and public health officials spoke during a conference call about their local options and concerns.
Most agreed that they aren’t comfortable with students going back to classrooms in mid-August, because they are concerned about a spike in coronavirus cases that could come two weeks after the Sept. 7 Labor Day holiday.
“The public health folks made it clear that they really felt like that we need we need to wait at least three and maybe four weeks after Labor Day, which would put it at the end of September or first of October, for the buildings to open up and the general population” to return to school, Whitley said.
Keeping safe
Once schools open, teachers and staff will be required to self-screen for COVID-19 symptoms before arriving on campus every day. That includes taking their temperature every day.
Parents also must be sure that they don’t send students with any symptoms to school. They may choose for their child to study online, particularly “if their child has had close contact with an individual who is lab-confirmed with COVID-19 until the 14-day incubation period has passed,” the TEA advisory states.
The nine-page advisory outlines a number of safety measures, including:
▪ Students, staff and teachers must wear face coverings to comply with Abbott’s requirement that people must wear masks in most public places.
▪ Anyone who has tested positive must stay home until three days after he or she has recovered and at least 10 days since he or she first experienced symptoms.
▪ If someone tests positive after he or she was in a school, officials at that school must notify the local public health department — as well as teachers, staff and families of all students at that school — and close off areas that were heavily used by the person until those areas can be disinfected, according to the TEA.
▪ Hand sanitizer and washing stations should be placed at each entrance of the school and staff, students and teachers should be encouraged to sanitize or wash their hands frequently.
▪ Campuses should begin “more frequent cleaning practices” as well as give students the opportunity “to clean their own space before and after they are used.”
▪ And when possible, schools should open windows to improve airflow into classrooms.
Expect changes
The TEA said high schools may be converted to a “full-time hybrid model” to provide more social distance for students once in-person classes resume.
And one week before students return to classes in person, districts must post a summary of their plan to “mitigate COVID-19 spread in their schools.”
TEA officials said more changes may be needed if coronavirus cases continue to increase.
“There will almost certainly be situations that necessitate temporary school closure due to positive COVID-19 cases in schools,” the TEA advisory stated. “Parents, educators, and school administrators should be prepared for this in the event that it occurs, while actively working to prevent it through prevention and mitigation practices.”
Shifting guidance
State education officials last week said Texas schools must provide in-person schooling for all students who want it in the upcoming school year and that districts could provide only three weeks of online classes at the beginning of the 2020-21 school year.
As coronavirus cases continue to rise across Texas, Abbott on Tuesday said school districts will have more flexibility. And state education officials on Wednesday said they would keep providing funding for school districts that stay online for more than three weeks — if local health officials say it’s necessary to stay online.
But anything can happen or change as coronavirus cases rise, as restrictions and guidance change constantly as elected and health officials work to slow the spread of the novel virus. Texas parents saw this in March when the governor closed schools and officials switched to online learning for the remainder of the school year.
What parents want
The new TEA advisory came after schools asked parents how they want their children to learn — in person or online.
A recent Aledo parent survey showed that 83.2% want in-person learning and 16.8% prefer online studies.
In Arlington, 54% of parents chose in-person classes and 46% chose online learning. In the Northwest district, 64% wanted in-person classes, 22% asked for online learning and 14% said they were not ready to make a decision.
And in Fort Worth, as of July 16, 54% of parents wanted in-person classes for their children and 46% wanted online classes. These numbers did not include another 880 registrations received on July 15. That second batch showed that 40% of parents wanted in-person classes and 60% wanted online classes, said Clint Bond, a spokesman for the school district.
Delayed classes
Already this year, Houston school officials have announced that their school year won’t start until after Labor Day and it will begin with six weeks of online classes.
And on Thursday, Dallas County Health and Human Services issued an order that requires all Dallas County schools to delay in-person education and extracurricular activities until after Sept. 7.
The TEA on July 7 issued guidelines for schools, saying students heading back to school this fall must screen themselves for COVID-19 symptoms and wear masks if the governor’s order requiring masks remains in place when school begins.
An online petition calling for the TEA to “allow school to remain off campus until it is safe to return” had drawn more than 84,000 signatures by Thursday.
This story was originally published July 17, 2020 at 11:15 AM.
