Gov. Greg Abbott, Texas Education Agency announce funding for districts affected by COVID-19

TEXAS -- School districts in Texas will now be eligible for an adjustment in their operational minutes for the 2021-22 school year due to lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The video above is ABC13's 24/7 News livestream.

The new change was announced in a March 29 press release and is a collaborative effort between Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Education Agency. Eligible districts will have access to funding they may not have received due to declining in-person attendance rates. It will only apply to the first four reporting periods of the current school year, according to the release.

Previously, funding was based on the number of students who were enrolled and what the daily in-person attendance was for districts. With many students having taken classes online due to the pandemic, districts will still have access to necessary funding despite not having as many students in person. This, according to the TEA, is to help provide flexibility when it comes to what counts as attendance.

"Providing this adjustment to the 2021-22 school year will ensure school systems have the funding they need to retain the best and brightest teachers and provide quality education to all public school students across Texas," Abbott said in the release. "We have made tremendous strides to return more of our students back to the classroom and will continue in our efforts to do so."

The TEA also previously formed the Teacher Vacancy Task Force on March 10. The task force will bring together various stakeholders from different districts and attempt to fix the issue of teacher vacancies and retention.

This content was provided by our partners at Community Impact Newspaper.