In a letter to the Texas Education Agency, 21 Texas organizations thanked state officials for their leadership and called for putting student and staff social-emotional needs "front and center" in state guidance to school districts about operating amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The letter was signed by the Texas State Teachers Association (TSTA), the Association of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE), Texas PTA, the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals, the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, Texans Care for Children, the Texas Coalition for Healthy Minds, and other organizations.
Texans Care for Children spearheaded the letter in collaboration with the Texas Coalition for Healthy Minds.
The letter stated:
We commend the Texas Education Agency (TEA) for its leadership in swiftly developing robust guidance and informational resources to assist school districts in launching remote instruction at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. That same leadership is now needed to ensure that school districts are not only instructing students but are also tending to the social-emotional conditions needed for students to be able to learn from that instruction.
During the 2019 legislative session, the Texas Legislature directed schools to provide students with safe and supportive learning environments and to address student mental health. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way schools provide instruction, but the need for schools to address student mental health remains — and is arguably more acute. Without the proper focus on the social-emotional and mental health of students and staff, the most well-delivered instruction or services will not result in students’ mastery of grade level standards.
The research is overwhelming and clear. The physiological effects of exposure to prolonged adversities or acute traumas can disrupt a student’s thinking, feeling, and behavior — both in the short- and long-term, even once the threats are no longer present.
The letter explained further how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting student mental health and outlined several detailed policy recommendations.