Abbott: Health officials can’t keep schools closed
Local government officials in Harris and other Texas counties do not have the power to shut down campuses as a method of preemptively stopping the spread of COVID-19, Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday, answering a question that left the start of the 2020-21 school year in limbo for much of July.
In a letter signed jointly with fellow Republican state leaders, the governor said local school boards and state education officials will have control over when campuses start in-person instruction this fall. School boards largely can limit the reopening of buildings in the first eight weeks of the school year, and Abbott added new guidance Friday declaring that districts will be allowed to apply to the state for an extension.
Abbott’s announcement came in response to health authorities in several of the state’s largest
counties — many of them led by Democrats — ordering all public and many private schools to delay the restart of face-to-face instruction until after Labor Day, at the earliest, due to the pandemic.
“School boards established by the Texas legislature play a unique and pivotal role in school decisions that must not be superseded by other local authorities unless expressly allowed,” Abbott and several leading Republicans said in the statement.
“It is clear that school boards can and should work collaboratively with, but not be subject to the advance directives of, local public health authorities, to ensure a safe and effective learning environment for Texas students.”
While Abbott’s announcement clearly outlines his position, he has not issued an executive order that would negate local school closure orders still on the books. An Abbott spokesman did not respond to questions about whether the governor plans to follow up with an executive order.
Officials in Harris County and the city of Houston, the only local governments to issue school closure mandates, had not rescinded their orders as of Friday evening. In Montgomery County, local health authorities have recommended that campuses remain closed through Labor Day, but they have not issued an order.
Delays already planned
Many Houston-area districts already planned to delay their school start dates until after Labor Day or begin the year in online-only classes.
However, Abbott’s announcement could open the door for Humble ISD, one of the few Harris County districts that remains on track to hold in-person classes in August, planning face-to-face instruction starting Aug. 11.
Humble’s school board is set to finalize plans during its Monday public meeting. Nearly twothirds of Humble families have signaled they prefer to start the year with in-person classes, among the region’s highest rates.
“There are several districts in parts of the county that are having less issues with COVID, so I really appreciate any sort of opportunity to collaborate here (with health officials) on our plans, the unique aspects of our community and the needs of our students,” Humble ISD Superintendent Elizabeth Fagen said.
Elected officials, educators and families across the state had been waiting for Abbott to weigh in on the debate over whether local health authorities could keep campuses closed due to COVID-19.
The issue came to a head this week when Attorney General Ken Paxton issued guidance on Wednesday opining that local health authorities legally could not order the closure of campuses for the sole purpose of preventing an outbreak of disease. Paxton’s opinion served as the basis of
Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath’s declaration that public school districts closed solely due to a local health order risked losing state funding.
However, Paxton’s guidance is not legally enforceable, and neither Abbott nor a judge has declared local school closure orders illegal. Morath also continued to say the state would fund districts shuttered under a legally issued closure order — guidance that potentially conflicted with his statement on Paxton’s opinion.
As a result, uncertainty reigned over when children could return to campuses in many areas.
While Abbott’s statement carries no legal weight until he issues an executive order, education leaders said Friday that the governor’s declaration delivers much-needed clarity.
“There’s still some confusion since we still don’t have an executive order, but we do appreciate the notion in his statement that they’re going to respect local school boards in giving them at least some authority,” said Kevin Brown, executive director of the Texas Association of School Administrators.
Online extension
Abbott took a step toward expanding local powers Friday by promising to extend an eightweek grace period during which districts can keep students with home computer and internet access in online-only classes.
“After that eight weeks, they could still have that opportunity if COVID remains a challenge in that particular district to obtain a waiver from the Texas Education Agency,” Abbott said in an interview Friday with Houston’s KRIVTV. “And then in addition to that, if schools do open, if a student or teacher or anybody else in a school tests positive for COVID-19, the school can close for up to five days.”
The governor did not say how TEA officials will evaluate waiver extension applications.
The opinions issued this week by Republican leaders drew condemnation from many Democrats and organizations representing school employees. Some Republicans are expecting the campus closure issue to end up in court.
The Texas State Teachers Association said Friday that no district should be penalized for choosing to provide only online instruction.
“If they really want to put the health and safety of students and educators first, this is what the governor and TEA will do, not impose artificial limits on online learning and financial penalties on districts,” the union said in a statement.
Health officials in Harris, Bexar and other counties have said the area’s case and death counts, as well as the rate at which people are testing positive for the coronavirus, are too high to reopen schools.
Harris County leaders have not published benchmarks that would signal their belief that it is safe to host in-person classes, though health officials have said they are crafting metrics.
Nationally, health experts have cautioned against reopening campuses before local outbreaks are contained and have called on the Trump administration to put in place a countrywide testing strategy that helps detect more cases among people who are not showing symptoms, especially as students return to classrooms.
“Even with the best of intentions, it’s hard to keep kids apart from one another, hard to keep them wearing their masks, and there’s a lot of mixing of people who might be asymptomatic carriers,” said Dr. Sarah Fortune, chair of the department of immunology and infectious diseases at Harvard’s public health school.
To date, none of the state’s largest districts has announced a definitive plan to remain onlineonly beyond the eight-week grace period outlined by TEA officials.
Houston ISD plans to host virtual classes for all students for the first six weeks of classes, which stretch from early September to mid-October. Alief, Fort Bend and Galena Park ISDs have announced they will stay onlineonly indefinitely, with no target date yet for returning to campuses.