AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) and the Texas Education Agency (TEA) have announced the creation of a database to rack COVID-19 in Texas public schools.
School systems will report COVID-19 cases to the DSHS who will then publicly report data on cases and outbreaks in schools starting in September.
“Data on the number of cases in schools is of paramount interest to parents, students, teachers, staff, public health experts, policymakers, and the larger community," the TEA said in a statement. "This information will be submitted to DSHS any time there is a positive case in a campus community. The TEA is collaborating with superintendents on the reporting process and will finalize it in the coming days. As a result, it’s important to note that this data collection effort will be updated based on the input received from Texas school districts."
The TEA says having this knowledge and being able to publicly share the accumulated case totals from schools in a single place covering the entire state of Texas will help to further support the health and safety of all Texans.