Texas school districts should determine when their students can safely return to the classroom for in-person instruction.
They also need the flexibility to offer hybrid schedules that allow students to receive a mix of instruction in the classroom and at home.
At such a confusing and stressful time for parents, educators and students, there is clearly no one-size-fits-all solution that can address the needs of the state’s 1,201 school districts, which serve more than 5.4 million students and employ some 720,000 people.
Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath made the right call last week by extending the time districts can teach online without losing state funding. School districts are now allowed to teach online for the first four weeks and can extend that for an additional four weeks with a school board vote.
The Texas Education Agency hastily revamped its school reopening guidelines after drawing severe criticism for mandating school districts provide in-classroom instruction five days a week for families choosing to send their children back to class. It was a mandate that would have endangered teachers, staff, children and parents due to the spread of COVID-19.
The extension of the online option does not resolve all the issues with TEA’s guidelines. Many school districts had planned to offer hybrid schedules to reduce the number of students on campus on a daily basis. They had to abandon that strategy when the TEA announced families would have to choose between online learning and returning to campus. For many families, this is a terrible choice: Stay home and “balance” work with facilitating online learning, or send children to school, knowing the environment might not be safe.
Under the modified rules, only high school students will be allowed to have a hybrid of digital and in-person learning once campuses reopen. This option needs to be extended to all grade levels once it is safe to return to campus. And it may not be safe for some time. Distance learning may need to be in effect for the entire fall semester.
There is no doubt most children learn better in the classroom. Being around other children is so important for learning and social development.
But the growing number of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths reported each day are extremely worrisome.
Children in Texas are getting COVID-19, and while kids often might not be the sickest patients, the virus they are carrying can infect adults — parents, grandparents, after-school caregivers, teachers, cafeteria employees, school nurses and bus drivers.
Since March, Texas Health and Human Services has recorded 2,394 positive cases of COVID-19 at 1,450 child care centers across the state. Included in that number were 1,617 adults and 777 children. The agency recorded 283 new cases in the last week alone.
It is uncertain how many of those cases are in Bexar County day care centers. What we do know is children younger than 18 account for 1 in every 10 COVID-19 cases reported locally.
Many Texas classrooms are crowded. Every year, requests are made to TEA for waivers seeking permission to exceed class-size limits.
School districts will need to be creative in setting up classrooms to allow students and teachers to be physically distant from one another. Who best to determine how and when that can be accomplished than those most familiar with the students, faculty and community needs during this pandemic?
School districts are not uniformly funded, and their facilities vary greatly. In some rural areas the bus ride to school can be quite long. Many variables need to be considered as the 2020-21 school year gets underway.
Texas made a grave mistake in rushing to reopen the economy despite not meeting many of the benchmarks health experts had advised. Each day the COVID-19 numbers are reaching new heights.
Until the pandemic is under control and a vaccine, treatment and significantly more testing are available, we must move cautiously.
The American Academy of Pediatrics earlier this month revised its position on the reopening of school after initially coming out in strong support of in-person education. It is now saying that while in-person school provides crucial benefits to children, “science and community circumstances must guide decision-making.”
The organization continues: “Public health agencies must make recommendations based on evidence, not politics.”
We agree.
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July 22, 2020 at 01:00AM
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Editorial: Allow hybrid classes for all when COVID under control - San Antonio Express-News
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