Below are today’s updates regarding COVID-19 and its impact on Texas public schools. For additional resources, please visit our COVID-19 page. TEA Special Education and Special Populations Updates for the Week of April 20, 2020 Dean Micknal, Partner The Texas Education Agency reorganized its COVID-19 Support: Special Education webpage last week. The revised site, which […]
Read moreOn April 17, 2020, Governor Abbott ordered all schools to remain closed “to in-person classroom attendance by students” for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. Teachers and staff are encouraged to continue to work remotely from home if possible, but are now permitted to “return to schools to conduct remote video instruction, as well […]
Read moreWe know that two new Family Medical Leave Act laws related to the COVID-19 pandemic went into effect on April 1, 2020, as follows: Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLEA) which extends Family and Medical Leave; and Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA) which provides for emergency paid sick leave for absences. These […]
Read moreBelow are today’s updates regarding COVID-19 and its impact on Texas public schools. For additional resources, please visit our COVID-19 page. TEA Special Education and Special Populations Updates for the Week of April 13, 2020 Dean Micknal, Partner The Texas Education Agency has continued to post and revise guidance regarding Special Education and Special Populations […]
Read moreBelow are today’s updates regarding COVID-19 and its impact on Texas public schools. For additional resources, please visit our COVID-19 page. Documenting Temporary SPED Services Dean Micknal, Partner; Victoria Elliott, Associate During the current pandemic, public school districts have an ongoing obligation to provide FAPE to students with disabilities. Therefore, district personnel need to attempt […]
Read moreState and local governments across the nation have applied varying approaches to address the question of what constitutes an essential business during the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 19, 2020, Governor Abbott issued Executive Order GA-08, banning social gatherings in groups of more than ten people. The March 19th Order stated that government entities and businesses […]
Read moreOn March 18, 2020, President Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) into law. The Act includes two separate, but complimentary provisions, the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (“EFMLEA”) and the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (“EPSLA”). Both provisions become effective on April 2, 2020 and are currently set to sunset […]
Read moreNew special-education guidance has been issued by TEA pertaining to the many issues that school districts are currently grappling with. That guidance reiterates that state and federal laws do not provide any flexibility to districts in times of emergency regarding the obligation to provide a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) to students receiving special […]
Read moreGovernor Abbott issued a proclamation today that suspends provisions of the Texas Election Code to allow political subdivisions to postpone their May 2, 2020 local elections until November 3, 2020. This action is aimed at avoiding large gatherings of members of the public in the continued effort to stem the tide of COVID-19. Governor Abbott […]
Read moreThe Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has issued the following guidance concerning the calculation of business days under the Public Information Act (PIA) during the response to COVID-19: Holidays observed by the governmental body are not business days. Weekends are not business days. Skeleton crew days are not business days. A day on which […]
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