Allows In-Person Summer School Starting June 1
Governor Loosens More Restrictions
The governor signed (May 18) Executive Order GA-23 that eases (but does not eliminate) various coronavirus-related restrictions on schools, businesses, recreational activities and venues, etc.
The loosened restrictions include allowing in-person-summer school to start on or after June 1, with a couple of important caveats — including that students cannot be required to attend summer school classes, even if they need to make up for lost academic progress before the new school year begins.
Included under the allowable in-person summer school definition are classroom instructional activities, and student school visits for special-ed evaluations, specialized assessments, individual tutoring, etc.
Distance-learning options for summer school continue to be allowed.
TEA Guidance
The TEA quickly issued updated guidance for schools to follow in light of the governor’s latest executive order.
The executive order, as supplemented by the TEA’s guidance, is very extensive, and includes these points:
- Staff will have to take all students’ temperatures daily and must supervise students washing their hands for at least 20 seconds at least twice daily. Students and staff must use hand sanitizers upon entering school buildings and at other times as specified.
- Dividers must separate student desks, and desks must be at least six feet apart.
- There can’t be more than 11 people (students, teachers, staff, etc.) in a school room together, and they can’t be less than six feet apart.
- A student, teacher or staff member showing symptoms of COVID-19 (or is confirmed to have the disease) triggers a range of responses — up to and including the extended closure of a single classroom, multiple classrooms or even the entire school, for two weeks.
- Schools should consider “prioritizing” the availability of on-campus summer school for students based on a seven-point priority list, with students with significant academic gaps at the top of the list.
The TEA’s guidance also cautions that while school employees must comply with the work expectations set by their employers (subject to any applicable contract terms), schools will need to prepare for increased teacher attrition and potential future illnesses — and should consider allowing teachers and other staff who are particularly at risk to work remotely from home.
Schools should consider hiring additional teachers to plan for these possibilities, the guidance states.
Many of the state’s school districts, as reported in their local media, stated that they would likely skip the in-person summer school option altogether because they would not have time to adequately prepare for it. Others stated that they are still studying the idea.
In related news, the CDC also released (May 15) its own list of recommended precautions (available here) that schools, childcare centers, restaurants and other establishments can refer to as they reopen. A more detailed set of CDC school guidelines was posted on May 22.