More Texas students tested positive for COVID-19 last week than at any time last school year
There have been 20,256 reported cases among students across the state since the school year began. Full Story
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![Students eat lunch in the cafeteria at Chapa Middle School in Kyle on Aug. 24, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
With a full plate of controversial bills to go, Texas House committee OKs funding for virtual learning
Public hearing on bill about teaching race and history draws a crowd. Full Story
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![A Texas elementary school student works on a laptop.]()
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Texas extends pandemic benefits for families whose kids have lost access to free or reduced-price meals
Texas families with students relying on free or reduced-cost meals are eligible for a $375 payment in food aid. Families have until Sept. 13 to apply for aid from the 2020-21 school year. Full Story
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![Central Texas Food Bank volunteers prepare to distribute free food to help people facing increasing food insecurity at the Travis County Expo Center in Austin on July 1, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
“I wanted to teach differently than I had been taught”: How some Texas educators practice anti-racist teaching
Conservative lawmakers denounce critical race theory and say it facilitates racism. Some teachers say it actually informs their efforts to counter racism in the curriculum and classroom, even though they don't teach it directly to students. Full Story
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![Alejandra Lopez, president of San Antonio Alliance, sat for a portrait at their main office in San Antonio on Aug. 3, 2021.]()
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A ripped-off mask and verbal assault: how tensions over changing mask rules spilled over in one Texas school district
In a letter to parents and staff, Eanes ISD’s superintendent called the incidents unacceptable and warned parents that the “the kids are watching.” Full Story
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![Families of students in Eanes Independent School District gather Tuesday near Westlake High School to demonstrate against face mask mandates in schools. The event was held by the organization Eanes Kids First, led by Jennifer Stevens.]()
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Live COVID-19 updates: Texas’ back-to-school season marked by mask mandate battles, rural districts’ closures
COVID-19 is surging again in Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott has tested positive. Hospitalizations are increasing faster than at any other time. Local officials and school leaders are rebelling against Abbott’s ban on mask mandates. Here’s the latest. Full Story
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![Joseph Situentes Peña, 13, receives his first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine at a clinic held in partnership between the Central Texas Food Bank and the University of Texas in Austin on July 21, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
Texas Supreme Court temporarily allows school mask mandates to remain
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Gov. Greg Abbott wanted the high court to disallow mask mandates in Texas school districts. Justices dismissed their request on a technicality, without issuing a ruling on their legal arguments. Full Story
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![Students in Mrs. Cazares's third-grade class on the first day of in-person classes at Highland Village Elementary on Sept. 8, 2020.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Rural schools shut down to keep COVID-19 from overwhelming their small communities
The small districts aren’t fighting Gov. Greg Abbott’s mask rules, but fears for staff, students and local medical facilities are driving them to fight COVID-19 with temporary closures. Full Story
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![Social distance markers are on the ground to enforce COVID-19 safety at Highland Village Elementary on Sept. 8, 2020.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Texas says schools now must notify families of positive COVID-19 cases in classrooms
This is a reversal of the Texas Education Agency’s previous guidance, which didn’t explicitly require school districts to notify parents of a close contact with the virus. Full Story
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![Students arrive at Morehead Middle School on Aug. 19, 2021, in El Paso. The school district, EPISD, as of today voted a mask mandate for all teachers, staff and students in school facilities, defying Gov. Abbott's order that restricted local entities from instituting mask mandates.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Texas, the bellwether state
A number of the top issues facing the country — mask mandates, voting, immigration — have something in common: Texas. Full Story
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![The state Capitol building on Aug. 11, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Joe Biden takes aim at states blocking mask mandates, setting Gov. Greg Abbott up for showdown with feds
Biden said he will use the U.S. Department of Education’s civil rights enforcement authority to deter states from blocking mask mandates in classrooms. Full Story
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![President Joe Biden delivered remarks on the nation's COVID-19 response and vaccination program during a speech in the East Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 18, 2021.]()
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Texas’ controversial new social studies law prompts McKinney school officials to cancel Youth and Government class
One of the Republican authors of the so-called critical race theory bill said the district is misinterpreting the new law’s ban on political activism. A school official called the language “vague.” Full Story
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![Judith Anderson-Bruess poses for a portrait at her home in Newark, Delaware on Aug. 11, 2021.]()
Credit: Eric Lee for The Texas Tribune -
Live COVID-19 updates: Attorney General Ken Paxton takes the state's mask mandate ban to the Texas Supreme Court
COVID-19 is surging again in Texas. Hospitalizations are increasing faster than at any other time. Local officials and school leaders are rebelling against Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on mask mandates. Here’s the latest. Full Story
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![The St. Johns drive-through COVID-19 testing site off of Interstate 35 in north Austin on Aug. 5, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Across Texas, frantic parents search for options to keep kids safe in school
For the second straight year, schools must worry about keeping their staff and their children safe and ensure that they’re providing the best possible education during a pandemic that has killed more than 50,000 Texans. Full Story
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![A fifth-grader at Jacob’s Well Elementary School in Wimberley works on their laptop behind a clear barrier meant to stop the spread of COVID-19 on Sept. 4, 2020.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
“How are we different than other kids?”: A transgender student wrestler fights legislative efforts to restrict participation in school sports
If passed, Texas' anti-transgender legislation will require student athletes to play on school sports teams that don't align with their gender identity. Full Story
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![Eli was required to compete on his high school's women's wrestling team in Houston as his gender marker said female.]()
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Analysis: Fiddling while the pandemic rages
The Texas Legislature is meeting. Partisans are fighting. And there is a surge in COVID-19 cases just as the state’s public schools are opening. Guess what’s getting the least amount of attention from state lawmakers. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott holds a border security briefing with sheriffs from border communities at the Texas Capitol on July 10, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
Several local mask mandates in Texas allowed for now as legal challenges to Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban mount
COVID-19 is surging again in Texas. Hospitalizations are increasing faster than at any other time. Local officials and school leaders are pushing back against Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on mask mandates. Here’s the latest. Full Story
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![COVID-19 signage at Edward L. Blackshear Elementary School in East Austin informs students and faculty that they must wear face coverings on Aug. 9, 2021.]()
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Gov. Greg Abbott’s order banning mask mandates in Texas schools faces lawsuit, defiance by big-city districts
Dallas ISD and Austin ISD announced Monday they will require masking, while Houston ISD will vote on a mandate this week. A nonprofit group has also sued to block Abbott’s order. Full Story
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![Fifth graders at Jacob’s Well Elementary School in Wimberley work from behind desktop barriers meant to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on Sept. 4, 2020.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
“I expect the worst”: A Texas parent worries about sending her children back to school in person
Gov. Greg Abbott is standing firm on his ban against mask mandates in schools. Some parents are concerned for their children’s safety as in-person classes resume. Full Story
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![Edinburg Mayor Richard Molina surrendered to authorities on illegal voting charges on April 25, 2019.]()
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Texas won’t require schools to notify parents of COVID-19 cases
The new guidance will allow for remote learning for up to 20 days for students who are sick with COVID-19 or have been exposed to it. Full Story
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![Plexiglass and six feet of distance between each desk keep students socially distant in Abigail Boyett's third grade classroom.]()
Credit: Alejandra Casas for The Texas Tribune