While social distancing measures are being stressed by health officials, TEA has announced that its COVID-19 policy allows school districts to apply for class size waivers. | Pixabay
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has announced that its COVID-19 policies will allow school districts to continue to submit applications for a waiver that would allow them to increase the class size for the younger grades.
Kindergarten through fourth grade classes sizes are recommended to be held at 22 students to one teacher, according to the Texas State Teachers Association. Instead of reducing class sizes to help minimize the spread of the coronavirus, TEA is allowing districts to apply to put more students into a confined space, placing students, teachers and their families at increased risk. An overcrowded classroom is the perfect breeding ground for the coronavirus.
These waivers are routinely granted during normal years, according to the Texas State Teachers Association. Texas is home to more than 1,100 public school districts. It remains to be seen whether school districts that are figuring out how best to keep students safe and healthy will apply for any of those waivers and whether TEA will actually grant them.
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