TCTA wants school reopening decisions to be based on COVID-19 data

The Texas Classroom Teachers Association (TCTA) recently expressed that the state education agency’s decision to extend the time period of remote-only instruction falls short on what the association envisions for schools in the aftermath of COVID-19.

“The Texas Classroom Teachers Association appreciates the enhanced flexibility provided in the new state guidance,” TCTA said in a press release from its website. “However, we have ongoing concerns that state mandates may not allow districts to take the actions they feel necessary to protect their students and employees throughout the school year.”

As stated in supplemental post on the TCTA website, Texas Education Agency (TEA) is enabling districts in areas with high cases of the coronavirus to limit in-person instruction for the first four weeks of school with the possibility of an additional four weeks upon approval from the school board.

“Our message hasn’t changed, and the new guidance doesn’t include what we consider the most critical component in determining how and to what extent schools should be open: reliance on data and public health experts to determine when it is safe for students and employees to return to campus,” TCTA Executive Director Jeri Stone said in the TCTA press release.

TCTA proposes that campuses should reopen based on certain factors. Among them are a specified low rate of positive tests, a low overall per-capita of new cases, a downward trajectory in new cases, an adequate rate of testing per capita and the availability of hospital beds.

“We hope and anticipate that state guidance will continue to evolve,” TCTA said in the release. “Many teachers are ready to get back into the classroom, and where that is safe, it should be allowed. But if the health authorities at the state and local levels don’t believe that it is in the public interest for schools to reopen for classroom instruction, the state should not require it.”