Past Contributions

• Texas scaling back child care subsidies for essential workers, low-income parents

  By Aliyya Swaby Updated: May 20, 2020

  A child care subsidy program for essential workers will stop taking applications after Wednesday, and on June 1, low-income parents will stop getting an extra subsidy they have been receiving to help during the pandemic. Full Story 

• Texas schools can hold summer classes, but students can't be required to attend in person

  By Aliyya Swaby May 18, 2020

  Daily temperature checks and supervised hand-washing are some of the safety rules for schools that decide to hold in-person classes this summer, under new guidance from the Texas Education Agency. Full Story 

• Opening up child care, camps helps working parents, but risks remain

  By Aliyya Swaby May 18, 2020

  Gov. Greg Abbott's decision to reopen child care centers and youth camps takes pressure off parents, but safety guidelines may be unaffordable for some providers. Full Story 

• Texas outlines guidelines to allow socially distant graduations to resume

  By Aliyya Swaby May 5, 2020

  School districts can keep their ceremonies virtual, celebrate seniors while they drive in a procession, knit pictures of individual seniors into a graduation video or host a socially distanced outdoor ceremony, said Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath. Full Story 

• "Between 0 and 100%": Texas schools weigh the odds of students returning this fall

  By Aliyya Swaby May 4, 2020

  It's way too early to know how COVID-19 cases will trend over the next few months, but school leaders are trying to draw up preliminary plans for bringing students back to classrooms. Full Story 

• In Houston's Chinatown, restaurants plan to feed front-line workers during the pandemic

  By Alex Samuels, Aliyya Swaby, Cassandra Pollock, Edgar Walters, Emma Platoff, Julián Aguilar, Mitchell Ferman and Stacy Fernández April 30, 2020

  Restaurant owners aim to give 10,000 meals to frontline workers. A boy with cancer wants a mohawk. An East Texas town prepares to reopen some businesses. In this weekly series, Texans from across the state share stories about how they're navigating life during the COVID-19 pandemic. Full Story 

• Texas sending restaurant and retail employees back to work without child care

  By Aliyya Swaby Updated: April 29, 2020

  Restaurant, retail and movie theater workers may be called back to work as soon as Friday. But licensed child care remains open only for children of "essential" workers. Full Story 

• Gov. Greg Abbott keeps Texas classrooms closed for remainder of school year

  By Aliyya Swaby April 17, 2020

  Doctors and health experts say it isn't safe to let students go back to their schools, the governor said at a news conference announcing executive orders intended to slowly reopen the Texas economy. Full Story 

• "They're proud of me": With a mask and a passion to help, lawyer keeps working in Mexican border city

  By Alex Samuels, Aliyya Swaby, Cassandra Pollock, Edgar Walters, Emma Platoff, Julián Aguilar, Mitchell Ferman and Stacy Fernández April 15, 2020

  An El Paso lawyer helps migrants in Juárez. A student struggles to focus while studying at home. A food pantry worker searches for a familiar face. In this weekly series, Texans from across the state share stories about how they're navigating life during the COVID-19 pandemic. Full Story 

• Texas school closings fray the personal bonds between teachers and students

  By Aliyya Swaby April 15, 2020

  Karen Sams and Michelle Sandoval, both 2020 Texas Teachers of the Year, know how important it is to see their students in the classrooms and hallways. Without that contact, they fear some are slipping away. Full Story