The RRISD Board of Trustees is asking the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to not have in-person learning this fall until the seven-day average hospitalization rate is five or less, which is the threshold set by Austin Public Health for Stage 2 response. In the letter to TEA Commissioner, Mike Morath, RRISD Superintendent, Dr. Steve Flores, and Board of Trustees President, Amy Weir, ask for the following:
- Suspend in-person school until the seven-day average hospitalization rate is five or less, the threshold set by the Austin-Travis County public health agency for a Stage 2 response.
- Provide additional funding to supplement costs incurred by districts to provide safe and effective learning, specifically by appropriating CARES ACT funding directly to districts rather than supplanting state funding with this federal infusion meant to support pandemic efforts.
- Suspend the STAAR and the A-F grading system for the 2020-2021 school year.
In an email to employees on Friday, Flores said in part, “Personally, I was disappointed when TEA announced that schools must provide daily, on-campus attendance for students who follow required public health protocols and whose parents wish them to learn on campus each day. The TEA announcement fails to acknowledge our current situation and the ever-changing status of our current public health crisis.”
