TEA: Districts to set virus rules
School districts can decide for themselves whether to stick with their coronavirus precautions, state education officials said Wednesday, following up on Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to drop his statewide order for maskwearing and limited building occupancy.
That will mean few if any changes to current practices, some local school districts predicted after the Texas Education Agency announced it was now up to them.
Bexar County’s three largest school districts, Northside, North East and San Antonio ISDS, said they will continue enforcing the safety protocols they already have in place, including requiring everyone on campuses to wear a mask.
“I see us staying in that mode for a good while — if not the rest of the school year — especially if we’re looking to bring more students into the classrooms,” said Patti Radle, San Antonio Independent School District’s board president.
Abbott said Tuesday that the state’s reduction
in COVID-19 hospitalizations and increasing numbers of vaccinations justified allowing businesses to fully open and drop mask requirements if they choose.
It drew immediate alarm from health experts and many local officials. School leaders said they had been waiting for the new TEA guidance before figuring out their next steps.
In Northside ISD, a few parents expressed skepticism about the efficacy of masks after the district announced that it would continue requiring them, but most seemed pleased, said Barry Perez, district spokesman.
“Any decision is always going to be met with some who are in support of it and some who oppose it, but right now, the overwhelming consensus is that people appreciate the overall decision,” he said.
School boards looking to make masks optional within their districts will have to vote to do so, the TEA said.
Carol Harle, Northside ISD’S board president, said the mask requirement has been effective in reducing coronavirus transmission in schools. Bexar County school districts have been able to keep their positivity rates below 2 percent throughout the pandemic, even as the county’s positivity rate has at times exceeded 20 percent.
“We are still continuing on with masks,” Harle said. “We know what’s working, so rocking the boat with any other initiative or mandate is not really on the table for now.”
Most area school districts have offered both in-person and remote learning options for students since they began the current school year. Extensive health and safety protocols for those who return to classrooms include mandatory maskwearing, room occupancy limits, daily health screenings and at some schools, weekly coronavirus testing.
Among area districts, San Antonio ISD has been the most conservative about a return to classrooms, encouraging parents to keep children learning at home unless they needed the advantages of the classroom.
The district managed to limit students learning in person to only about 30 percent of its enrollment after the winter break.
It also has offered more coronavirus tests for students and staff than any other school district in Texas, Radle said. The SAISD approach to safety has been supported by parents in the district, which includes some of the ZIP codes in San Antonio hardest hit by the pandemic, she said.
The TEA guidelines that will soon be lifted have required students and staff to wear masks any time they are on school property and unable to maintain a distance of at least 6 feet from others, except when eating or drinking and for students younger than 10 or with a disability that makes it difficult to wear a mask.
The updated guidance still encourages physical distancing but does not require it. Schools with classrooms in which keeping 6 feet apart is not possible should offer more opportunities for handwashing and sanitizing and “consider whether increased airflow from the outdoors is possible,” the new guidance states.
Private schools in Bexar County are not bound by the TEA rules but several said they also don’t plan to shuck off their virus precautions and will continue following guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Central Catholic High School, Keystone School, Saint Mary’s Hall and San Antonio Academy said they will continue requiring masks within their buildings.
“We pride ourselves on maintaining our protocols that we have in place, including safety and social distancing guidelines, and nothing will change here,” said Jason Longoria, Central Catholic’s director of advancement. “It’s been working for us and we’ll continue to do that to ensure the safety of our students, faculty and staff, and our entire community.”