Texas officials announced Friday that schools can continue to learn online only through November as the state sees growing cases of the new coronavirus.
AP reports that the changes were announced just hours before Texas set another daily record for deaths from COVID-19,174, as well as more than 10,000 new cases of the virus as the state sees a growing outbreak.
Previously, state officials had provided districts with the option of remote learning for three weeks and then face-to-face classes. Most schools will also require masks and social distancing when they reopen.
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Governor Greg Abbott (R) tweeted after the announcement that “health [and] safety of students, teachers [and] parents are the highest priority. “
The decision comes as President Trump
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Elizabeth (Betsy) Dee DeVos Fear not: ‘Deep State’ lies undermine the truths of the federal bureaucracy 23 attorney generals sue DeVos for change in student loan forgiveness Nearly 8 in 10 college students say they won’t attend parties in the fall: survey MORE they have lobbied for schools to return to in-person learning in the fall, even threatening to withhold federal funds from those who do not return full time.
But the issue has been at the center of the debate and sparked a backlash from parents and teachers concerned about the spread of the virus among children. While health officials say children often experience less severe coronavirus symptoms or are even asymptomatic carriers, many are concerned that they will carry the virus to their parents or pass it on to their teachers and the vulnerable.
Several other states have made similar decisions in recent weeks.
California announced on Friday that about 80 percent of its population was on a “watch list” that they would not be allowed to reopen schools for in-person learning until they could demonstrate that consecutive weeks of coronavirus cases are on the decline. When schools reopen, they will require masks and social distancing.
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