60 Days On

Two months into this school year, districts have reported 172,275 coronavirus cases in students. That's more cases than districts reported in the entire 2020-21 school year.

State data on school cases is incomplete and likely an undercount.https://t.co/ax623ZYnGZ

— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) October 1, 2021

Two months into this school year, the number of reported coronavirus cases among students has surpassed the total from the entire 2020-21 school year. Schools are prohibited from taking precautions such as requiring masks, though some are fighting the governor’s order banning mask mandates. Far more students are on campus, since most districts do not have a remote learning option.

....

State data on school cases is incomplete and likely an undercount. TEA suppresses some districts’ case counts to protect student privacy, and not all districts report student and staff cases to the state, despite agency guidance requiring otherwise. The agency also retroactively updates its data from previous weeks as more districts report cases.

Some large districts, such as Houston and Dallas, have not consistently reported cases to the state since TEA started tracking COVID-19 data on Aug. 2 for this school year. Many districts publish a COVID-19 dashboard that shows cases, and TEA recommends families check for the latest data there.

Entire districts, including Angleton and Lumberton, have closed temporarily without reporting cases to the state. These districts don’t necessarily report their closures, either, since they are not required to do so. TEA informally tracks closures based on media and district reports, said Frank Ward, an agency spokesperson.

Just a reminder:  there are 254 independent school districts in Texas.

I'm not sure how this issue is going to play in 2022, although parents have long memories.  It may well play to the benefit of the Democratic nominee, if he/she is smart enough to run on it.  But this has affected every corner of the state.