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COVID-19 Support: Public Health Orders

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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.

2022 - 2023 School Year
Public Health Orders COVID-19 School Health
Support Grant
(Grants to Schools)		 K-12 COVID-19
Testing Program		 Public Health Workforce Supplemental Funding Grant (Nursing Grant)
       

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 August 30, 2021.

Tools, Templates and Resources

Correspondence and Notices

COVID-19 School Health Support Grant (Grants to Schools)

Tools, Templates and Resources

Correspondence and Notices

Webinars and Presentations

K-12 COVID-19 Testing Program

This K-12 COVID-19 Testing Program is supported by the CDC of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $800 million with 100 percent funded by CDC/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CDC/HHS or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit the Center for Disease Control Website.

FAQ and Guidance

Tools, Templates and Resources

Reporting Forms

Lists

Applications

Other Resources

Webinars and Presentations

The content presented within the vendor webinar recordings and slide decks are subject to changes/updates; please refer to the SY 2022-2023 Vendor Resource Sheet under the “Lists” section on this webpage to ensure you have the most updated vendor information.

Upcoming Webinars

Recordings and Presentations

Public Health Workforce Supplemental Funding Grant (Nursing Grant)

FAQ and Guidance

Tools, Templates and Resources

Webinars and Presentations

This guidance may be outdated, please refer to the 22-23 tab for up-to-date guidance.

2021 - 2022 School Year

Public Health
Orders 		COVID-19 School Health
Support Grant
(Grants to Schools) 		K-12 COVID-19
Testing Program 		COVID-19 Case Reporting
COVID-19 Vaccinations Public Health Workforce Supplemental Funding Grant (Nursing Grant) Other
Resources 		 

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 August 30, 2021.

Tools, Templates and Resources

Correspondence and Notices

COVID-19 School Health Support Grant (Grants to Schools)

This K-12 COVID-19 Testing Program is supported by the CDC of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $800 million with 100 percent funded by CDC/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CDC/HHS or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit the Center for Disease Control Website.

FAQ and Guidance

Tools, Templates and Resources

Webinars and Presentations

Correspondence and Notices

K-12 COVID-19 Testing Program

This K-12 COVID-19 Testing Program is supported by the CDC of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $800 million with 100 percent funded by CDC/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CDC/HHS or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit the Center for Disease Control Website.

FAQ and Guidance

Tools, Templates and Resources

Reporting Forms

Lists

Applications

Other Resources

Webinars and Presentations

The content presented within the vendor webinar recordings and slide decks are subject to changes/updates; please refer to the SY 2022-2023 Vendor Resource Sheet under the “Lists” section on this webpage to ensure you have the most updated vendor information.

Correspondence and Notices

COVID-19 Case Reporting

Tools, Templates and Resources

COVID-19 Vaccinations

Tools, Templates and Resources

COVID-19 Vaccine Provider Information

Best Practices for District Vaccination Events

Sample District Communications Resources

Other Resources

Public Health Workforce Supplemental Funding Grant (Nursing Grant)

FAQ and Guidance

Tools, Templates and Resources

Webinars and Presentations

Other Resources

Tools, Templates and Resources

This guidance may be outdated, please refer to the 22-23 tab for up-to-date guidance.

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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 July 30, 2021.

Tools, Templates and Resources

Correspondence and Notices

K-12 COVID-19 Testing Project

FAQ and Guidance

Tools, Templates and Resources 

 

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Texas Education Agency (TEA) K-12 Testing Resources

Document

Description

Communication Templates October 28, 2020

School District Examples

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

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.

 

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Texas Department of Emergency Management (TDEM) K-12 Testing Resources

Effective September 15, 2021, TDEM will no longer support the K-12 COVID-19 Testing Project.  Additional information from TEA will provided in the coming weeks

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/

Correspondence and Notices

COVID-19 Case Reporting

FAQ and Guidance

Tools, Templates and Resources

Correspondence and Notices

Other Resources

Tools, Templates and Resources

Correspondence and Notices

 

COVID-19 Vaccinations

FAQ and Guidance

Tools, Templates and Resources

SY 21-22 Student Vaccine Campaign

Correspondence and Notices

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