2020-2021 COVID-19 Public School Case Reporting

This letter outlines two COVID-19 related data reporting requirements that will together support state policymakers, district leadership, educators, and parents to make future decisions on how to keep school populations healthy while supporting students’ educational needs: 

1. COVID Case Report – Online web form to be submitted weekly beginning September 8, 2020 
2. 1st and 4th Weeks Enrollment Data Surveys to be submitted by September 14 and October 5, 2020 

COVID Case Report – Online Web Form 

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is supporting the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) in conducting a statewide weekly data collection of positive COVID-19 cases in schools. These data will be collected using a web-based form that can be found at https://txdshs.quickbase.com/db/bqrc8nie5?a=showpage&pageid=101 and will require an authentication code to submit. 

The COVID case collection is needed to compile statewide data on COVID-19 cases in schools. It does not include any individually identifiable information. Schools will still have to submit a separate form to report to their local health entity individual information for purposes of public health actions such as contact tracing. 

The COVID Case Reporting form must be used by Texas local education agency (LEA) staff to report test-confirmed COVID-19 cases in public schools. Case information should be supplied each week a school system is notified that a student, teacher, or staff member who participates in any on-campus activity is test-confirmed with a current COVID-19 infection. Antibody tests, which show an individual has COVID-19 antibodies but is not necessarily currently infected, do not require a case report. Positive case notifications received Monday through Sunday must be reported on the following Monday by 5:00 pm CST. Instructions on how to complete the form are located at: 2020-2021 COVID-19 Public School Case Reporting Instructions. 

This form will be available beginning Friday, August 28, 2020. Please enter data for any dates prior to August 28 if positive cases were previously reported, going back to the first day of the 2020-2021 school year. All prior cases must be submitted by September 8, 2020. If an LEA is impacted by Hurricane Laura and requires an extension, please reach out to the support email at the bottom of this letter. 

An authentication code will be required to submit the case reports. This code will be sent to the email address in AskTed for each LEA superintendent on August 28, 2020, along with the link to the case report entry form. This authentication code applies to all the campuses in your LEA  and is unique to your LEA. The online form cannot be saved without an authentication code. You will need your authentication code for each new form you create. 

1st and 4th Weeks Enrollment Data Survey 

As a supplement to this data, TEA is conducting a collection of enrollment data to determine the number of students on campus across the state. The surveys will ask for approximate enrollment numbers for each campus during the first and fourth weeks of school and will open on Friday, August 28, 2020.The first week survey will close on September 14, 2020, and the fourth week survey will close on October 5, 2020. This data will be submitted via a Qualtrics survey. 

This data collection provides the total number of on-campus students, which will provide context for the positive case numbers reported to DSHS. The links to the Enrollment Data surveys will be included in the August 28, 2020, email to superintendents. 

Separately, TEA has previously announced a PEIMS data collection beginning in October to collect crisis codes at the student level (https://tea.texas.gov/about-tea/news-and-multimedia/correspondence/taa-letters/sy-2020-2021-covid-19-crisis-code-reporting-guidance). That collection will continue as well. 

Together, these two data collections will allow TEA and DSHS to review statewide information on COVID-19 cases in schools to better inform public policy decisions that will continue to be made related to COVID-19. Given high public interest, DSHS will also be publishing weekly aggregate positive case numbers by district, starting at the end of September, giving LEAs time to review data entry issues before publication. The report format and publishing timelines will be made available the week of September 8. 

Additional Support 

If you do not receive the authentication code, please contact your regional educational service center (ESC). For technical assistance with the COVID Case Reporting form or the Enrollment Data survey, please email COVIDCaseReport@tea.texas.gov. For policy related questions or concerns regarding implementation of public health guidance for schools, please email disasterinfo@tea.texas.gov.