Abbott stresses Texas school boards are best to set reopenings of classrooms amid COVID
As Texas school districts weigh when and how to start the school year, Gov. Greg Abbott reiterated Tuesday that local school boards are best suited to determine when classrooms reopen, and cautioned that reopenings and the upcoming flu season will increase the need for personal protective equipment.
With the novel coronavirus still spreading, both events will put “an even greater strain” on the demand for personal protective equipment, like face masks and gloves, Abbott said Tuesday from a Texas Division of Emergency Management warehouse during a press conference in San Antonio.
But he stressed that the state has “abundant supplies” to ensure equipment is provided not just to schools, but also to hospitals, nursing homes and testing sites that need PPE to respond to the pandemic.
As of Tuesday, the Texas Division of Emergency Management has distributed over 130 million face masks, 33 million gloves, 7 million gowns and 4 million face shields across the state. Schools have received over 59 million masks, 24,000 thermometers, 565,000 gallons of hand sanitizer and more than 500,000 face shields, Abbott said.
In a statement following Abbott’s press conference, Texas State Teachers Association President Ovidia Molina said that 59.4 million face masks would equal roughly 11 masks per student, and that it was only “a drop in the bucket, compared to what will be needed if schools are forced to reopen before it’s safe.”
“That might get students through the first week of school,” Molina said.
The question of whether students will be returning to campuses in a matter of weeks has been marred by confusion and changing guidance. After previously requiring districts provide daily on-campus classes, the Texas Education Agency relaxed its guidance on July 17 and said that Texas schools could limit in-person classes for the first four weeks, and potentially the next four weeks, if districts were granted a waiver. A spokesman for the agency had previously confirmed that schools would not risk losing state funding if they closed by order of a local public health authority.
Local health officials, including in Tarrant County, issued orders delaying the start of in-person instruction. But last week, Attorney General Ken Paxton issued non-binding guidance that said local public authorities cannot issue blanket orders to close schools “for the sole purpose of preventing future COVID-19 infections.”
As a result, the TEA said remote instruction will no longer be fully funded under such an order, because it “does not constitute a legally issued closure order.”
It was position Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and other lawmakers reaffirmed last week. In a joint statement, state leaders said that in addition to the option of waivers, schools could still receive state funding if the school board closed a campus for up to five days to sanitize it in the event of a confirmed COVID-19 case. Schools also have the option of alternating on-campus and virtual instruction for high school students to limit how many students can be on campus at once.
Abbott stressed Tuesday that districts have the flexibility to ensure the health and safety of students, teachers, staff and parents, by allowing local school boards to choose the route that is best for their community.
And while school boards are “not bound by any date dictated months in advance by a local public health authority,” Abbott noted they can choose to adopt recommendations made by local health officials.
“Nothing is stopping them from doing that,” Abbott said.
However, Molina disagreed and said that the decision on when schools can reopen should come from the governor’s office.
“The governor needs to stop passing the buck to local school boards on when to reopen and should mandate no district start in-person instruction before Sept. 8 and then only when it is safe to do so,” Molina said in a statement. “The governor continues to ignore the fact that when schools do start, the Texas Education Agency will require districts to offer in-person instruction to students who request it, putting those students, school employees and families at risk.”
In the wake of Paxton’s opinion, Tarrant County school districts have taken varying approaches to the start of the school year. Fort Worth schools will remain online-only for four weeks starting Sept. 8. On Monday night, the Keller school board unanimously voted to delay the reopening of schools by a week to Aug. 26, and then allow parents to choose whether to send their kids to school or enroll them in virtual classes.
COVID fatality, case reporting
Tuesday, Abbott also addressed recent changes in how Texas reports COVID-19 fatalities and discrepancies in what test results are counted by the state.
After changing how it classifies COVID-19 deaths last week to the cause of death listed on death certificates, the state added more than 400 new deaths. However, later that same week the Texas Department of State Health Services said it had erroneously included 225 deaths due to an “automation error.”
Abbott said DSHS’ decision to change its classification of COVID-19 deaths was to ensure “the highest level of accuracy.”
The Houston Chronicle reported Sunday that thousands of positive test results from rapid COVID-19 tests are not included in the state’s overall case counts. Abbott defended the decision Tuesday, noting that the federal government considers an antigen test as a “probable” case, rather than a confirmed one.
“And so it’s very important to separate the two, because the COVID-19 test has a higher level of accuracy than does an antigen test. And hence, they will be categorized and reported separately,” Abbott said.
The Texas Democratic Party criticized Abbott for his handling of pandemic Tuesday.
“Texans deserve real leaders who don’t fudge numbers and refuse to take responsibilities,” Abhi Rahman, a spokesman for the Texas Democratic Party, said in a statement.
Tuesday afternoon, Abbott also visited the McAllen Convention Center, which is being used as a pop-up healthcare facility to treat COVID-19 patients and provide relief to hospitals.
The Rio Grande Valley is one of the hardest hit areas in the state. In addition to hospitals nearing capacity, South Texas communities are also navigating damage left in the wake of Hurricane Hanna.
Abbott said the convention center currently has 50 operational beds with the ability to add more, and is “receiving their first patient as we speak right now.” A similar pop-up healthcare facility is expected to open in Cameron County, Abbott said.
This story was originally published August 4, 2020 at 1:13 PM.
