This petition is to strongly urge Governor Greg Abbott of Texas to NOT mandate in-person school attendance for students school personnel for the fall of 2020. 

Texas public school funding has long been tied to student attendance. Source: https://tea.texas.gov/finance-and-grants/state-funding/state-funding-reports-and-data/average-daily-attendance-and-wealth-per-average-daily-attendance If student attendance drops below a certain rate, districts receive less funding. This funding is used for many things including teacher salaries. 

Governor Abbott says he feels it is “safe” for schools to open in the fall of 2020. Source: https://www.texastribune.org/2020/06/18/texas-schools-reopening-fall/ However, Governor Abbott also began reopening the state of Texas just days after the biggest spike in coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic. Source: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/05/18/us/texas-governor-reopens-phase-two-covid-19/index.html Governor Abbott’s previous actions have shown a blatant disregard for how the coronavirus illness has affected the constituents of his state. 

Coronavirus cases in Texas have continued to climb since data has been collected and monitored from March until now. This includes the number of deaths from coronavirus. Source: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/texas-coronavirus-cases.amp.html

Texas Education Agency spokesperson Frank Ward has says TEA will not mandate the requirement for students to wear masks or be monitored for coronavirus symptoms. Source: https://www.texastribune.org/2020/06/18/texas-schools-reopening-fall/ This sort of mandate will likely undermine individual school district abilities to put these sort of reasonable precautions into place. 

The CDC has repeatedly stated that children are at a much lower risk for serious illness or hospitalization if they contract the coronavirus. While it is a smaller possibility, death from Covid 19 has occurred in some pediatric patients. Much of the data from pediatric patients comes from New York and New Jersey. Source: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6914e4.htm It is worth noting that there is not a lot of data on coronavirus infections among Texas children. This may be due to the fact that schools began shutting down in-person instruction right when the pandemic hit Texas in March. 

Since the beginning of this pandemic in March, teachers have adapted to using many online platforms to continue teaching and distance learning. While it has been challenging, teachers have risen to the occasion and continue to train on different online platforms to add to their virtual teaching portfolio. Distance learning is challenging, but it can be and has been done successfully.

There is not enough data to estimate how the Covid 19 illness will affect Texas students if they return to school in the Fall of 2020. There is significant data to unequivocally state that the adults that staff Texas public schools will be at a much higher risk of infection or illness, even if they are generally healthy and not immunocompromised. Governor Abbott’s current statement does not seem to address the adults who staff public schools at all. There is enough data to suggest that Texas has not recovered from the coronavirus pandemic, and in fact, the number of Texans affected by Covid 19 infections and fatalities continues to grow. Going back to school in person in the fall is a risky endeavor that our state should not be willing to chance.