BG Reads | News You Need to Know (August 10, 2021)
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
Austin ISD will require masks, defying governor's executive order (KUT)
The Austin Independent School District will require masks in schools when classes begin next week, which defies Gov. Greg Abbott's executive order.
Austin ISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde announced the news during a school board meeting Monday night. She said she knows not everyone will be happy with the decision.
“That being said, I am responsible for the safety, the health and the welfare of each and every one of our students and our staff," Elizalde said. "If I err, I must err on the side of ensuring that we have been overly cautious, not that we have fallen short.”
The requirement goes into effect Wednesday.
In May, Abbott signed an order which said no government institutions, including school districts, could require masks. As COVID-19 cases surge in Travis County and overwhelm ICUs, parents and community members have been calling for a mask requirement in schools to protect children.
Last school year, Austin ISD required masks for anyone who entered a school building. Many staff members said children did a good job of keeping them on all day, which helped keep infection rates at AISD schools low. The district has said it will require masks on buses this coming school year.
It's unclear if the governor will punish the district and what the consequences could be. Dallas ISD announced earlier Monday that it will require masks as well… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
TxDOT and critics at loggerheads over plan to widen I-35 (Austin Monitor)
At Friday’s special meeting of the City Council Mobility Committee, residents aired their concerns to a quorum of City Council members about a controversial TxDOT plan to significantly widen the portion of Interstate 35 that runs through Austin. The complaints come as a wave of advocates across the state call on the transportation department to demonstrate more transparency, engage with local residents and consider options when it comes to the expansion plan.
While TxDOT argues that the expansion would ameliorate Austin’s rising traffic problem and improve safety, detractors criticize the plan as unhelpful and unsightly. Critics say TxDOT’s traffic projections are gross overestimations to justify adding more lanes and point out discrepancies between TxDOT’s prior traffic flow predictions and the traffic data available today.
Then there’s the issue of “induced demand,” referring to the tendency of people to drive more as the number of lanes increases, resulting in larger and louder highways that aren’t any less congested.
Despite TxDOT’s stated commitment to listening to the public, many community members involved in the process feel the department is giving them the runaround. They claim their input carries no actual weight, as ultimately they’ll have to choose between three far-from-ideal options regardless… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
'I'm considering it seriously': Former state Senator Kirk Watson says he might run again for Austin mayor in 2022 (Austin American-Statesman)
Former state Sen. Kirk Watson says he's considering running for mayor of Austin during the November 2022 election.
Watson, a Democrat, was Austin's mayor from 1997 to 2001 and continues to live in the city. He confirmed his interest in the position Monday in a text message to the American-Statesman. Watson said he'll take as much time as needed before he makes a decision.
"The number of people reaching out to me and asking me to run for mayor has been extraordinary and very exciting," Watson said. "So, yes, I'm considering it seriously. That includes talking to people, doing some research and considering what I want to be doing right now."
Watson's popularity from his time as mayor and in the Legislature would seem to make him a formidable contender, one with the potential to scare away others who are thinking about launching a campaign. He represented Austin in the Texas Senate from 2007 until he resigned in 2020 to become the first dean of the University of Houston’s new Hobby School of Public Affairs. Watson stayed in that role for one school year before stepping down in May.
To this point, the mayoral race has two declared candidates: Realtor Jennifer Virden, a former Austin City Council candidate in District 10, and Erica Nix, who in her campaign treasurer appointment lists her job as a body positivity ambassador.
Current Mayor Steve Adler is required to step down after the completion of his second term unless he collects petitions from 5% of registered voters to run for a third term. Adler has said he will not do that.
The winner of the 2022 mayoral race will serve only two years — not the usual four — after Austin voters decided in November to change the city's election schedule. The adjustment will align mayoral races with presidential elections, a move aimed at promoting stronger voter turnout. Whoever is elected mayor in 2022 would then have the opportunity to run for reelection in 2024 for a four-year term.
State Rep. Celia Israel, D-Austin, has also expressed interest in running for mayor and has made phone calls to supporters, according to multiple political insiders. Israel's term in the House is up at the end of 2022. She confirmed her interest in the mayor's office on Monday.
"I have engaged in a range of conversations with community leaders frustrated with never-ending culture wars and neglect of real issues," Israel wrote in an email. "How do we hold on to the communities we’re losing? How do we do right by students, parents and teachers when we can’t require masks? I’m hearing over and over again we need a new perspective. For now, the talks continue, but I’m encouraged by the spirit of our community to meet the moment."
City Council Member Kathie Tovo said Monday she also might enter the mayor's race.
"I am seriously considering a possible run for mayor," she said.
The deadline for candidates to file is in August 2022… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
UT-Austin will require negative COVID-19 test for students living on campus (KXAN)
The University of Texas Austin has released a series of guidelines it will use going into the fall 2021 semester for faculty and staff during rising case numbers of the delta variant of COVID-19 in Central Texas.
The University of Texas Austin has released a series of guidelines it will use going into the fall 2021 semester for faculty and staff during rising case numbers of the delta variant of COVID-19 in Central Texas.
UT is asking its community to wear masks while inside classrooms or other indoor settings on campus — regardless of vaccination status. Masks do not need to be worn in a private office or single-occupant cubicle.
Classes that are scheduled to be in-person or hybrid can be held at reduced density for the first two weeks of the semester. However, all students enrolled in the course must have at least one in-person experience per week, UT says.
For contact tracing purposes, UT recommends faculty keep a seating chart for all classes with more than 30 students. Students may be asked to not sit in the first few rows of the classroom and maintain six feet of distance when asking questions. Faculty can also hold office hours online.
All students on campus for the semester must get a viral COVID-19 test, antigen or PCR, within 72 hours prior to arrival in Austin. Students already in Austin will test within 72 hours of moving into their residence for the semester.
Students living at residence halls or University apartments will need to show proof of a negative viral COVID-19 test result to receive keys at check-in… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
Austin judge blocks arrests of Democratic House members who Fled To D.C. to break quorum (KUT)
A district judge in Austin has temporarily blocked the arrest of Democrats refusing to return to Texas for the special legislative sessions.
In his order issuing the block Sunday, District Judge Brad Urrutia wrote that Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan “have erroneously interpreted Texas Law and legislative rules to permit the detention, confinement, or other restriction of members of the Texas House of Representatives within the State of Texas in response to a call for quorum.”
Early on in the last special session, a group of roughly 50 House Democrats fled to Washington, D.C., in an effort to deny Republicans the ability to pass legislation, in particular a set of bills that would have created more voting restrictions.
Shortly after, Republicans called for a quorum and voted to have members arrested if they set foot across state lines. According to state law, those House members could then be detained and brought back to the Capitol for a vote.
In his ruling, Urrutia specifically blocked Abbott and Phelan from “detaining, confining, or otherwise restricting a Texas House Democrat’s movement without his or her consent … issuing any warrants of other instruments commanding detention … [and] commanding the sergeant-at-arms, officers appointed by the Texas House sergeant-at-arms, Department of Public Safety, Texas Rangers, Texas Highway Patrol Officers, Capitol Police Officers, or other law enforcement to detain or confine” members of the House.
In a statement, Democratic state Rep. Jasmine Crockett said Republican efforts to have House members arrested is another sign that leaders in Texas are “out of control.”
“Greg Abbott is issuing bans on the most effective strategy we have to protect Texans from COVID at school, on the job, and going about their daily business,” she said. “Dan Patrick is killing Senate rules that give the public a say on laws that he’s jamming through in the dead of night. And the Speaker thinks he can wave his hand and have his political opponents rounded up and arrested. We’re watching a major political party backslide in real time from fair representation, the rule of law, and democracy itself.”
Republicans have accused Democrats of shirking their duties and using time they should be working to “vacation” in Washington for the past few weeks… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas parents can now choose to hold their children back a grade because of pandemic disruptions (Dallas Morning News)
It’s part of Mike Morath’s job to know what students are expected to learn at each grade level. So it wasn’t hard for the Texas education commissioner to see how the pandemic was hurting the way his own kids, like millions of others, were learning. For months, Morath and his wife have been having long discussions, versions of which are playing out in some homes across the state: Should our child repeat a grade to make up for COVID-19 disruptions? Texas has a new law empowering parents to make that call.
Before the school year begins, parents of elementary and middle school-age kids can alert their campus officials that they wish to have their children held back a grade. High school students are allowed to repeat a course. Should school administration disagree with the parents’ choice, they must convene a committee for a hearing. Still, the decision now ultimately lies with the family.
“If that’s something a parent wants to utilize, they’re entitled to it,” Texas Education Agency spokesman Jake Kobersky said. State officials don’t have an estimate of how popular they expect the choice to be, he said. The agency released guidance for parents on what they should consider, such as social factors, especially for the state’s youngest learners. More children were missing from the early grades than in any other across Texas. Roughly 75,000 fewer pre-kindergartners and kindergartners were enrolled in public schools in January 2021 vs. 2019. Some describe parents’ choice to not enroll their child as “COVID redshirting.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Canada opens border to fully vaxxed Americans, U.S. is not there yet (Politico)
Canada opened to fully vaccinated Americans on Monday, increasing pressure on the Biden administration to respond in kind to its northern neighbor.
“The Biden administration should reciprocate this policy decision — given the high rate of vaccination across Canada — without further delay,” U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow said in a statement from Washington. “Every month that travel remains stagnant, the U.S. loses $1.5 billion in potential travel exports and leaves countless American businesses vulnerable.”.
Even as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shared plans to welcome fully vaxxed Americans, the Biden administration rolled over U.S. restrictions on nonessential travel until at least Aug. 21… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Florida's Governor says school leaders may have salary withheld if they require masks (NPR)
As the majority of Florida's K-12 schools prepare to reopen campuses at full capacity this week — many of them on Tuesday — Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the State Board of Education could withhold pay from school leaders who implement mask mandates for students.
The move to potentially punish educators follows days of controversy during which school district superintendents and school board members seeking to comply with CDC guidelines ignored an executive order from DeSantis banning school districts from requiring students to wear face masks.
In a statement to CBS4, the governor's office said the State Board of Education may "narrowly tailor any financial consequences" for those who violate the law. It adds that the governor, who has opposed all face covering mandates since the start of the pandemic, is intent on protecting parents' rights.
"Ultimately — Education funding is for the students. The kids didn't make the decision to encroach upon parents' rights. So any financial penalties for breaking the rule would be targeted to those officials who made that decision," the governor's spokeswoman Christina Pushaw said in a tweet… (LINK TO FULL STORY)