With fewer students enrolling in many Texas schools this fall, state education officials announced Thursday they'll wait six weeks longer than originally planned before considering cutting funding for districts seeing declines because of COVID-19.
Knowing that the transition to remote learning has been difficult for many schools and students, Texas had already agreed to fund school districts for the first 12 weeks of school based on their projected attendance numbers.
To receive the extension, school districts must offer in-person instruction to all students whose parents who want it.
About 1 million of the state's 5.5 million public school students are learning in person, according to a TEA calculation.
School districts, the letter reads, are experiencing decreases in enrollment ranging from 2% to 7% going into October.