The Texas Education Agency issued guidelines Tuesday for a “safe return” to on-campus instruction for the upcoming 2020-21 school year, requiring schools to offer both in-person and remote learning options as COVID-19 cases surge in Texas. The directive states that schools “must provide daily on-campus attendance for students otherwise entitled to attend school.”
Parents will be able to choose whether to keep their kids at home or send them back to school when the new academic year starts on August 18. Students may switch between studying at home or in a classroom, the guidelines say, except in the middle of a grading period. This means students must stick with one mode of instruction for 6-9 weeks, reducing their ability to adapt to changing public health conditions.
Texas schools have been shuttered since March 23, and there is no precedent for whether or not these guidelines will prevent viral transmission.
“This is what we’re planning for; it could change at any time as we get more experience with COVID-19 and the way it’s impacting the city of Austin,” Dr. Paul Cruz, superintendent of the Austin Independent School District (AISD), said during a Facebook live session Monday with Austin Mayor Steve Adler.
Cruz said that in surveys issued to parents by AISD, around half indicated they would consider sending their children back to school provided they had more information about health and safety protocols, while the other half affirmed they would keep their children at home.
States face political pressure to reopen schools
The TEA’s decision comes as President Trump has vowed to pressure governors to reopen schools even as COVID cases reach record highs in 32 U.S. states, claiming without evidence that lawmakers hesitant about reopening schools have a political motive.
“They think it’s going to be good for them politically, so they keep the schools closed,” Trump said at a White House event. “No way.”
Recently, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended policymakers prioritize “having students physically present in school” in the Fall to counteract the negative effects of social isolation on children.
In late June, Texas governor Greg Abbott announced schools would reopen in the Fall without requiring masks or social distancing. Following a statewide mask order issued on July 3, after hospitalizations in Texas set a new record for the third straight day, schools will now be required to enforce mask-wearing and social distancing. Similar to hospitals, students, teachers, staff and visitors will be questioned about COVID symptoms and have their temperature checked before being allowed on campus.
The burden of health and safety protocols falls squarely on educators
With five weeks to go before the new school year, Texas schools must undergo a major overhaul not only to their teaching practices, but their class timetables, remote learning resources and procedures for cleaning and disinfecting school property.
The guidelines urge schools to provide hand sanitizer and/or hand washing stations at each entrance, and institute supervised hand washing for at least 20 seconds at least twice a day. Schools are also encouraged to “open windows or otherwise work to improve air flow by allowing outside air to circulate in the building” heeding advice from health experts that the virus transmits less easily outdoors. Desks should be spaced six feet apart, and, where possible, classes should be held outside rather than inside “where feasible and appropriate.”
Some schools have toyed with staggering start and end times; others have considered a hybrid education model where students alternate between learning on campus and at home.
Asked how school buses would accommodate social distancing requirements, Cruz said that buses would likely be seated at 25 percent capacity.
“We typically have 60 students on a bus and we transport 23,000 students a day across all of our sites. With social distancing requirements, it would be about 12-14 students on a bus.”
Teachers unions protest schools reopening
Two teachers unions have decried the proposed reopening, even with revised health and safety guidelines in place.
“The governor reopened restaurants, bars, gyms and other businesses too soon and the number ofconfirmed COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations soared. We can’t afford to let that happen in our schools,” Noel Calendaria, president of the Texas State Teachers Association, said in a statement. “Millions of lives are at stake, beginning with our children, our educators, their families and communities.
Similarly, the Texas American Federation of Teachers condemned TEA leadership for “acting intentionally or recklessly with gross negligence.”
The TEA states on its website that it “does not have the general authority to close schools for matters related to health. This authority lies with the local health authority, DSHS and the Governor of Texas.”