After the omicron surge in early 2022, COVID-19 cases declined in Texas schools

Editor’s note: After March 18, we will no longer update this story. Statewide COVID-19 case levels have decreased significantly, and fewer school districts are reporting cases to the state. For the latest on the impact of COVID-19 in schools, follow our public education coverage.

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Texas schools turned a corner with the COVID-19 virus in February after the highly contagious omicron variant had caused a post-holiday surge in student and staff cases. Cases and hospitalizations also declined statewide. Some of Texas’ biggest school districts, like Houston ISD, Dallas ISD and Austin ISD, lifted mask mandates for students.

Every Friday, the Texas Education Agency and Texas Department of State Health Services release COVID-19 case counts for students and staff, as reported by the state’s school districts. Here is the latest situation for the week ending Sunday, March 13:

State data on school cases is incomplete and likely an undercount. TEA suppresses some districts’ case counts to protect student privacy, and not all districts report student and staff cases to the state, despite agency guidance requiring otherwise. The agency also retroactively updates its data from previous weeks as more districts report cases.

Some large districts, such as Houston and Dallas, have not consistently reported new cases to the state since TEA started tracking COVID-19 data on Aug. 2 for this school year. Many districts publish COVID-19 dashboards that show cases, and TEA recommends families check them for the latest data there.

Entire districts, including Clarksville ISD in northeast Texas and Hutto ISD in central Texas, closed temporarily in January without reporting cases to the state. These districts don’t necessarily report their closures, either, since they are not required to do so. TEA informally tracks closures based on media and district reports, said Frank Ward, an agency spokesperson.

Here are the 10 districts reporting the most cases as of the week ending March 13:

At the beginning of this school year, districts had fewer options to slow the spread of the virus and keep students and staff safe.

Last year, school districts were permitted to require masks. Earlier this year, Gov. Greg Abbott prohibited mask mandates in schools, prompting a federal investigation for possibly violating the rights of students with disabilities. A federal judge overruled the governor’s order, separately finding that it violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. But Abbott’s prohibition on mask mandates is back in effect after a federal appellate court temporarily restored the order.

Before the school year began, the state did not fund online options. Instead, school districts either used federal relief dollars or dug deep into their budgets to provide remote programming for families.

But now, some families and districts may find relief, as Abbott signed into law Senate Bill 15, which expands and funds virtual learning through 2023. While advocates for the law say it is a step in the right direction, it excludes students who failed the STAAR test.

In the last school year, almost 40% of students did not pass their math assessment, and nearly a third didn’t pass reading. Those who failed were disproportionately Black and Hispanic.