Yeah, I don’t know about this.
Texas students will be returning to public schools in person this fall, Gov. Greg Abbott told state lawmakers Thursday morning.
The state’s top education officials confirmed the plans in a statement to The Texas Tribune.
“It will be safe for Texas public school students, teachers, and staff to return to school campuses for in-person instruction this fall. But there will also be flexibility for families with health concerns so that their children can be educated remotely, if the parent so chooses,” said Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath.
When students return, school districts will not be required to mandate students wear masks or test them for COVID-19 symptoms, said Frank Ward, a spokesperson for the Texas Education Agency.
The TEA is expected to release additional guidance for school districts next Tuesday. Abbott has long said his intention is for students to return in-person this fall, saying this week that there will “definitely be higher safety standards in place than when they opened last year.”
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According to state lawmakers on the 11 a.m. call, school districts will be able to also offer instructional alternatives for students. The decision comes as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to rise statewide, and local officials begin to put firmer restrictions in place to tamp down the spread in their cities and counties.
National surveys have shown many parents do not feel safe sending their students back to the classrooms, with one poll showing two-thirds in support of keeping schools closed until the pandemic’s health risk has passed.
School districts’ surveys of parents are showing that many students will stay home, even when the classrooms are open. That could pose a financial risk to districts, which receive state funding based on student attendance. Already, many districts are planning for hybrid programs, with some students learning virtually and some learning in person, allowing them to keep class sizes small.
Before we go on any further, just a little reminder:
Thursday marked the seventh consecutive day that Texas reported a record number of hospitalized coronavirus patients, with 2,947 people currently in hospitals being treated for COVID-19, according to data released Thursday by the Texas Department of State Health Services.
The latest seven-day average for the number of people hospitalized is 2,468. Since the beginning of June, hospitalizations have increased almost every day. There’s almost twice as many people hospitalized because of the coronavirus than there was on Memorial Day.
You can click over and see the chart, but you probably already have the picture. Even as recently as last week, we were still talking about the different options school districts may choose to employ for the fall. So much for that, I guess. I mean, remote learning has been a challenge in many ways. Many students were not equipped for it, and many just simply never showed up for online classes once schools closed. Schools play a vital role in childcare for many families, and of course many children are fed at schools. I want kids to return to schools – hell, I very much want to get my own kids out of the house again, and I know they really miss their friends and teachers. But how can anyone feel confident about this, when the numbers are trending so strongly in the wrong direction, and our Governor speaks in riddles as a means of avoiding his responsibilities? We should have been able to send our kids back to school this fall with the assurance that all reasonable steps have been taken to minimize risk and drive infection levels down. We have neither of those things. What’s a responsible parent supposed to do? Right now, I have no idea.
“It will be safe for Texas public school students, teachers, and staff to return to school campuses for in-person instruction this fall.”
What is Abbott’s definition of “safe”?
We need to define our own definition of what safety means during this pandemic. Just because one can do something doesn’t always mean they should. For me, I don’t feel safe in groups right now. I’m curious to see how each classroom will be protected when its set up is for large group activity all day. I want to know what changes are they suggesting to minimize groups in school and what to do when everyone starts getting sick.