Teachers group raps state guidelines on opening schools

AUSTIN — The state’s top teachers group criticized state guidelines for starting the school year Friday, saying they would unfairly punish districts that choose to stick with online instruction amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The comments from the Texas State Teachers Association come after Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and the state’s other Republican leaders on Friday endorsed the guidelines from Attorney General Ken Paxton and the Texas Education Agency.

Texas health officials said more than 8,800 new confirmed cases of the virus that causes COVID-19 were reported Friday, bringing the total in Texas since the start of the pandemic to almost 421,000 cases. More than 141,000 of the confirmed cases are active. The state’s rolling rate of positive tests remained steady Friday at 12.12%, up fractionally from Thursday.

The true number of cases in Texas is likely higher because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected and not feel sick.

The state reported nearly 300 new COVID-19 fatalities Friday, bringing the overall death toll to almost 6,600. Texas patients hospitalized with COVID-19 totaled 9,336, about 40 more than Thursday.

The Texas Education Agency guidelines limit school districts to four weeks of exclusively online instruction unless a district gets a waiver from the agency. School districts would decide when and how to start their school year, but the state would set the number of days and hours of instruction required.

Health officials are relegated to a purely advisory role unless a school is found to be contaminated by the coronavirus, in which case a health authority may close the school for disinfection.