Until a vaccine is approved and widely available, COVID-19 will be an obstacle the Texas education community continues to face. So, who makes which decisions? 

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected nearly every aspect of public education, from instructional delivery to how you take attendance and where students eat their lunches. A variety of policymakers and organizations shape these decisions. This outline demonstrates how federal, state, and local entities all play a role in determining school policies during COVID-19.   

AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL 

U.S. Congress Americans with Disabilities Act, Family and Medical Leave Act: These long-standing federal statutes govern accommodations employers must provide employees, such as working from home due to a medical condition and taking leave to care for family members.   

Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA): This law, passed in response to the pandemic, temporarily expands the FMLA and provides additional sick leave to employees in certain specific situations involving COVID-19. At press time, FFCRA was in effect until December 31, 2020.  

CARES Act: This act provides federal funding for schools to help deal with the impacts of COVID-19, including $13.5 billion for K-12 schools, as well as $8.8 billion for child nutrition. It also allows the U.S. Secretary of Education to waive certain federal testing and accountability mandates. 

AT THE STATE LEVEL 

Gov. Greg Abbott  

• School Closures: Has the power to close schools via executive order temporarily, as he did in March, or for the remainder of the academic year, as he did in April.   
• Wearing Masks: Issued an executive order requiring masks be worn by most people indoors in Texas.   
• Funding: Determines how federal grants will be spent, such as using the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund under the CARES Act to create a voucher program for students with disabilities.  
• Waivers: Sought and received a waiver from the U.S. Department of Education for 2019-20 student testing and accountability requirements. For 2020-21, waived a state requirement for using STAAR test results to determine grade promotions. Temporarily waived some requirements pertaining to educator preparation and certification.  

Texas Legislature  

• Funding and Legislation: Adopts the state budget, including funding for schools and the compensation of school employees. Has the power to enact, repeal, or amend state laws governing education as well as public safety and health.   

Texas Education Agency/Commissioner of Education Mike Morath  

• Virtual Instruction: Established when and for how long schools can offer virtual instruction to start the 2020-21 school year. Issued guidance requiring school districts to provide in-person instruction to any student whose parent or guardian requests it. Considers whether to approve additional requests for extending virtual instruction.   
• Attendance Requirements: Developed requirements for taking attendance during remote synchronous and asynchronous instruction that districts must follow to satisfy average daily attendance requirements for funding.  
• Allocation of Relief Funds: Distributes federally funded resources to school districts, including technology devices and personal protective equipment (PPE).  

AT THE LOCAL LEVEL 

Local School Board/School District  

• School Calendar and Learning Environment: Determines when to start the school year and whether to start virtually. Can use District of Innovation status to achieve additional scheduling flexibility.  

• Employee Accommodations: Determines whether to grant an employee’s claim for work accommodations, such as working from home due to a medical condition that could be affected by COVID-19.   

• Safety Precautions: Creates and enforces individual safety protocols on each campus, such as establishing social distancing measures in classrooms, requiring masks, creating quarantining and contact-tracing procedures, and providing cleaning supplies and PPE to faculty and staff.   

• Technology: Selects the technology programs teachers and students will use during virtual learning. Assists with technology accessibility by providing laptops or setting up Wi-Fi hot spots.  

OTHER ENTITIES 

These groups did not direct policy, but policymakers considered their recommendations.  

ATPE 

• Developed a set of criteria for safely opening schools based on measurable, scientific data that was shared with state and local district officials. Offered recommendations on safety precautions and strategies to mitigate the spread of the virus in schools.    
• Urging state leaders to waive student testing requirements and refrain from basing high-stakes decisions, including school ratings and educator appraisals, on STAAR data during the pandemic.   
• Lobbying lawmakers to prioritize school funding and oppose across-the-board budget cuts in the upcoming legislative session. Pushed for a moratorium on charter school expansion during the pandemic.   
• Continues to provide individual representation to hundreds of eligible ATPE members seeking coronavirus-related workplace accommodations or who have other pandemic-related individual employment concerns.*  

Local Governments and Health Authorities  

• Monitoring the prevalence of the virus in the community, local officials have issued a variety of orders, such as mask ordinances and limits on gatherings. School boards can use local health authority recommendations in support of requests for waivers of in-person instruction requirements from TEA.     

Medical Groups  

• Medical groups, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics, have issued guidance and advice regarding reopening schools and how to make them safer. This guidance has included the benefits of in-person learning vs. prolonged digital learning and what precautions schools should take to minimize the spread of the virus.     

Information accurate as of November 16, 2020. 

*Eligibility, terms, conditions, and limitations apply. Visit atpe.org/protection to view important disclosures and complete details of the insurance policy. Staff attorney services are provided separate from the Educators Professional Liability Insurance Program.