The Texas Education Agency has developed a Coronavirus (COVID-19) Support and Guidance webpage at https://tea.texas.gov/texas-schools/health-safety-discipline/coronavirus-covid-19-support-and-guidance.
On April 3, 2020, TEA issued its Summary Debrief of TEA COVID-19 Superintendents Call. According to the summary, all schools have been ordered closed up to, but excluding, May 4. Each school district is making decisions regarding grading policies and school closures. For example, Austin ISD has closed indefinitely and will issue grades on a pass/incomplete basis.
The April 3rd TEA Summary Debrief contains a link to Guidance on Educator and Staff Issues. There is also a template for staff authorizing their ability to commute to school while the shelter-in-place order is in effect.
It also provides sample communications to staff and students about an infected staff member or student.
TEA has collaborated with the Department of Health and Human Services to create resources to execute the public campaign, Stay Well, Texas, including social media posts and other communications promoting safe practices during the pandemic. More information is provided in the summary.
Food services issues were discussed and links to MealFinder and other resources on how and where to get school breakfast and lunch are provided.
Special Education resources have been added to the new Special Education and Special Populations Coronavirus webpage. These were developed in conjunction with the SPED Taskforce. See https://tea.texas.gov/texas-schools/health-safety-discipline/special-education-and-special-populations for more information.
Other topics contained in the Summary Debrief included: school finance, teacher certification and preparation, educator evaluation and non-renewals, assessments and grading, accountability, instructional continuity, discipline reporting deadlines, and FEMA.
COVID-19 Superintendent calls take place Tuesdays and Thursdays at 3pm and summaries are provided for each call on the TEA Coronavirus (COVID-19) Support and Guidance webpage.
