COVID-19 Support: Public Health Orders

Welcome to the COVID-19 support page for closure guidance and communication resources. Here you can find guidance and resources organized by the following categories. Simply click on a category link to be taken directly to those resources below on the page. For questions, please email disasterinfo@tea.texas.gov.

2020-2021
2019-2020

2020 - 2021 School Year

Public Health Orders	K-12 COVID-19 Testing Project	COVID-19 Case Reporting	Other Resources
COVID-19 Vaccinations

Public Health Orders

FAQ and Guidance

Governor Abbott’s COVID-19 disaster declaration is still in effect. Governor Abbott declared a disaster due to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 13, 2020. A gubernatorial disaster declaration expires thirty days after its issuance, unless renewed, and Governor Abbott renewed the declaration on May 5, 2021.

SY 20-21 Public Health Guidance (PDF) March 25 2021
SY 20-21 Reopening Guidance Summary (PDF) July 21 2020
Training and Conditioning Guidance for Non-UIL Activities (PDF) June 9 2020

Tools, Templates and Resources

SY 20-21 Communication Templates: Beginning of Year, Symptom Screening, and Confirmed Case (Word) July 28 2020
SY 20-21 Communication Templates: Beginning of Year, Symptom Screening, and Confirmed Case – SPANISH (Word) July 30 2020
SY 20-21 Public Health Operational Guidebook (PDF) July 28 2020
SY 20-21 Public Health Scenario Planning Answer Key (PDF) July 28 2020
SY 20-21 COVID-19 Symptom Screener Options for LEAs (PDF) July 28 2020
Education Rights and Responsibilities During COVID-19 (PDF) August 13 2020
Education Rights and Responsibilities During COVID-19 (Spanish) (PDF) August 13 2020
Superintendent Response Checklist (Developed by ESCs) April 20 2020
Austin Public Health Close Contact – Timeline (PDF) December 10 2020
Ventilation System Impact on Student Health (PDF) March 2 2021

Correspondence and Notices

Texas Attorney General Guidance Letter on Local Public Health Orders
Executive Order no. GA-29 relating to the use of face coverings during the COVID-19 disaster (PDF) July 2 2020
Executive Order no. GA-30 relating to the continued response to the COVID-19 disaster as Texas reopens (PDF) September 17 2020
Executive Order no. GA-32 relating to the continued response to the COVID-19 disaster as Texas reopens (PDF) December 10 2020
Executive Order no. GA-34 relating to the opening of Texas in response to the COVID-19 disaster (PDF) March 2 2021
Press Release: Texas Education Agency Announces Updates to Public Health Guidance; TEA Also Provides Updates to COVID-19 Vaccine FAQ

K-12 COVID-19 Testing Project

As of January 15, 2021, school systems will no longer be able to opt-in to the K-12 COVID Testing Project to receive rapid tests. School systems that have already opted-in will continue to receive their allocations per the distribution methodology posted on our website. We strongly encourage you to continue to use the test kits as many of the tests distributed have an expiration date, some as early as February 2021.

FAQ and Guidance

K-12 COVID-19 Testing Project Superintendent Kick-Off Presentation (PDF) October 29 2020
K-12 COVID-19 Testing Project FAQ (PDF) February 8 2021
K-12 COVID-19 Testing Project Playbook (PDF) October 28 2020
- District Examples

Tools, Templates and Resources

K-12 Test Allocation Spreadsheet
- K-12 Test Allocation spreadsheet – Based on November 15, 2020 Trauma Service Area (TSA) Data (Excel) November 23 2020
- K-12 Test Allocation spreadsheet – Based on October 16, 2020 Trauma Service Area (TSA) Data (Excel) October 28 2020
- K-12 Test Allocation spreadsheet – Based on December 15, 2020 Trauma Service Area (TSA) Data (Excel) December 17 2020
K-12 Public School Test Allocation Spreadsheet Methodology
- December K-12 Public School Test Allocation spreadsheet methodology (PDF) November 23 2020
- November K-12 Public School Test Allocation spreadsheet methodology (PDF) October 28 2020
- January K-12 Public School Test Allocation spreadsheet methodology (PDF) December 17 2020
Trauma Service Area Data
- Click on “Combined Hospital Data over time by Trauma Service Region”

	Texas Education Agency (TEA) K-12 Testing Resources
Document	Description
Communication Templates October 28 2020 Student/Parent Communication (Word) Staff Communication (Word) School District Examples Invitation for Employees to Test (Ysleta ISD) Student Athlete Parent Letter (Ysleta ISD) Testing Overview for Principals PPT (Ysleta ISD) Parent Letter (Lampasas ISD)	Communicating with your stakeholders about COVID rapid testing will be essential to successful implementation. Resources include TEA-developed samples as well as examples created by districts that participated in the testing pilot. These documents are meant as a resource and their use is entirely optional.
Student Permission Slip, TEA-Developed Sample (English) Sample (Spanish) Annotated Version	School systems must obtain formal consent from a student's legal guardian (for those under 18). The TEA-developed sample is provided as a standardized example for all schools/districts. Feel free to edit it to include additional information specific to your school or district. For example, you may want to add context if this is to be filled out at the time of testing, or in advance of the possibility of tests being conducted in the future. Additional examples are provided from the districts that participated in the pilot testing.

	Texas Department of Emergency Management (TDEM) K-12 Testing Resources
Document	Description	Where to find
Texas School Testing Quick Guide	One pager on what test administrators can expect on testing day	https://tdem.texas.gov/k-12testing/
Test Coordinator Responsibilities	Schools should review prior to appointing a test coordinator to better understand duties before, during and after testing	https://tdem.texas.gov/k-12testing/
Test Administrator Responsibilities	Schools should review prior to appointing test coordinator to better understand the training requirements and the duties before, during and after	https://tdem.texas.gov/k-12testing/
Best Practices for Schools	This document provides schools with additional information on planning, space requirements, and managing testing flow	https://tdem.texas.gov/k-12testing/
How-To-Video Loop	This video can be played on a loop during testing and provides step by step instructions on test administration	https://tdem.texas.gov/k-12testing/
Training Links for Test Administrators	Each test administrator is required to complete the training and take the accompanying exam	https://www.preparingtexas.org/Index.aspx
K-12 COVID Testing Support Guide	The K-12 COVID-19 Testing Support Guide provides an overview of the program to provide BinaxNow Rapid Test kits and PPE to school systems in Texas. The guide provides information on how tests will be distributed and resupplied, test administration, reporting of results, and how to handle medical waste	https://tdem.texas.gov/k-12testing/
Standing Delegation Order	Standing delegation order from Dr. Alexander Lazar for licensed nurses conducting BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag Card Screening in K-12 Texas school systems	https://tdem.texas.gov/k-12testing/
Medical Waste Instructions for Schools	Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) regulatory guidance regarding the handling, storage, labeling, transportation, and proper disposal for schools using COVID-19 rapid testing kits.	https://tdem.texas.gov/k-12testing/
BinaxNOW Distribution	Listing of the number of test kits distributed to K-12 School Systems as December 15, 2020	https://tdem.texas.gov/k-12testing/
Abbott BinaxNow tests reported by school system	This document provides the number of Abbott BinaxNow tests that were distributed to each school system and the total and percent of those tests that school systems have reported they’ve used	https://tdem.texas.gov/k-12testing/
Expiration Date Extension	Abbott Labs has announced that their BinaxNOW Test kits’ expiration date may be extended by an additional three months for specific test kit lots. Only those lots which are indicated in the letter on the TDEM site are extended.	https://tdem.texas.gov/k-12testing/