Coronavirus News
Aug. 19 through 8 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9
COVID-19 School Reporting Starts
With Labor Day out of the way, most Texas school districts are now back in session for the state’s 5 million-plus students, although many of the state’s larger districts are online only, for now.
Houston ISD and Dallas ISD, for instance, are operating via distance learning instruction only through at least the first week in October, with the understanding that this could be extended further should pandemic conditions warrant.
Weekly Reports
A major announcement (Aug. 20) during TEN’s current reporting period by the TEA and the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) was the mandate that ISDs and charters will have to start submitting weekly online reports to the DSHS on confirmed COVID-19 cases in their schools.
School administrators started — as of Tuesday, Sept. 8, and continuing every Monday thereafter — reporting non-personally identifiable info about positive test-confirmed new COVID-19 cases involving any student, teacher or staff member that school officials learned about during the prior week (or any time prior to Sept 8 for the first reporting).
School administrators must report whether: 1) the cases were contracted on or off campus (if they know), and 2) if the entire campus closed as a result.
The statewide data is expected to be posted on an updated basis by DSHS starting some time this month.
Per the TEA, as with school notification requirements for other communicable diseases (and consistent with legal confidentiality requirements) schools must notify all teachers, staff and families of all students in a school if a test-confirmed COVID-19 case is identified among students, teachers or staff who participate in any on campus activities.
The TEA also announced (in its guidance to schools) it will require districts and charters to report their approximate enrollment data for the first week of school by Sept. 14, and for the fourth week of school by Oct. 5.
Detailed guidance recently posted by the Texas Classroom Teachers Association notes that state health laws and regulations that have been in effect for several years makes it a crime (a Class B misdemeanor) if school administrators and some other school employees (including teachers and counselors) fail to report to a local health authority if they suspect a student or staff member has a communicable disease — with penalties for violations of up to 180 days in jail and/or a fine of up to $2,000.
Other Coronavirus News
New COVID-19 Strain
The DSHS reported (Sept. 8) — see latest updates here — it has confirmed 21 cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), described as a rare but serious complication associated with the coronavirus in children ages 9 months to 17.
The condition, DSHS said, causes different body parts to become inflamed, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes or gastrointestinal organs.
Children with MIS-C may have fever and various symptoms that include abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, neck pain, rash, bloodshot eyes, or feeling extra tried.
Eight cases were reported in the Central Texas state health region, five cases each were reported in the North Texas and Southeast Texas regions, two cases were reported in the East Texas region and 1 case was reported in the Texas Panhandle region.
Nearly two-thirds of the cases have been in Hispanic children, and about 60 percent have been male. All the reported Texas cases were hospitalized and have since been discharged.
“Connectivity” Update
Gov. Abbott announced (Aug. 20) the TEA, in partnership with ISDs, charters and other educational entities, has procured more than 1 million personal distance learning devices and Internet Wi-Fi hotspots as a part of the state’s Operation Connectivity initiative.
Meanwhile, a new study (press release/brief/full report) commissioned by the Texas State Teachers Association (TSTA) concludes that although overall digital access for students is worse in Texas than the country as a whole, the biggest victims are low-income rural and minority students.
The study, based on U.S. Census Bureau data, determined that Texas ranked 46th among the states in overall Internet and computer access.
While 70 percent of Texas households with school-age children in metropolitan areas have access to broadband and computers, only 50 percent have access in rural areas. TSTA, while supporting virtual learning as a response to the pandemic, called upon the Texas and federal governments to significantly increase funding for this effort “so that all students, regardless of family income, race, ethnicity or home address, have the tools they need.”
UIL Concerns
News photos and broadcasts from some of the first football games to be played this season — showing maskless spectators packed closely together for some of the contests — were the apparent reason for the UIL to repost (Sept. 1) the league-imposed mandates that stadium capacity can’t exceed 50 percent and spectators (with limited exceptions) must adhere to requirements to wear masks.
The league has hinted that noncompliance could lead to bans on spectators attending games or outright cancellation of sports altogether. The UIL also sent letters to schools emphasizing the point.
Federal News
U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced (Sept. 3) in a letter to state chief education officers that the states should not expect the U.S. Department of Education to waive federal student testing and accountability requirements for the 2020-21 school year as was done for the just ended school year.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced (Aug. 31) the extension of several meal program waivers that were to expire by the end of September.
The waivers were extended until Dec. 31, 2020, unless the available funding runs out before then.
The waivers, among other things, will allow students to continue to eat free in schools regardless of their free/reduced price status and will allow parents to continue to pick up food at local schools for their children.
Lawsuit Dropped
The Texas Supreme Court (TSC) granted (Sept. 4) a motion filed by the Texas AFT affiliate for Cypress-Fairbanks ISD to dismiss the affiliate’s pandemic-invoked lawsuit challenging the district’s plans to require employees to attend in-person professional development for the three weeks leading up to the Sept. 8 start of school for students.
Because of the TSC’s Aug. 16 order (see TEN, Aug. 24) allowing CFISD to proceed with in-person professional development, it’s now too late for the Cy-Fair AFT “to secure meaningful relief for its members within a meaningful time” from the courts, the motion to dismiss states.