TEA guidance calls for masks, screening to return to school

New guidance from the Texas Education Agency requires students and

teachers to wear masks in counties with more than 20 confirmed COVID-19

cases and makes hybrid learning a “logistical impossibility” for the

upcoming 2020-21 school year.School districts

must provide on-campus learning for those that follow the procedures and

whose parents have pick in-person schooling, subject to school closure.However,

districts can temporarily limit access to on-campus instruction during

the first three weeks of school to help with the transition process,

which is to be laid out by the individual districts. The screening to prevent the virus from getting into the school is similar to other businesses.Teachers

and staff are to self-screen for symptoms each day and include taking

their temperatures. Visitors must be screened, but those screening

questions can be supplemented with a temperature check when practical. Parents are responsible for screening children for COVID-19 symptoms. “Regularly

performing a forehead temperature check of otherwise asymptomatic

students in school is not recommended, but the practice is also not

prohibited by this guidance,” the TEA guidance said. Students

that have COIVD-19 symptoms must be separated from the rest of the

population and the areas used by them much be disinfected.Should

a confirmed case be present in the school, the area should be closed

off until the area can be disinfected, and all teachers, staff and

families should be made aware of the confirmed case.The TEA recommends the following of CDC guidelines to mitigate the spread of the virus within the school. The

last update from the TEA regarding STAAR testing was in late June when

they said standardized testing would continue with a bigger testing

window and more time for online testing.