According to new state guidance, Texas schools will not be required to conduct contact tracing in the event of positive coronavirus testing.

The Texas Education Agency (TEA), in a two-page guidance, has released Thursday that schools must notify state and local authorities if a student who was present at school is positive for COVID-19.

The guidance states that contact tracing is not required if data shows “low COVID-19 transmissions rates in a classroom setting”.

The guidance states that school systems are not required by COVID-19 to conduct contact tracing, despite data from 2020-21 showing low COVID-19 transmissions rates in classroom settings and data showing lower transmission rates among children than those of adults.

The document states that “If school systems are made aware of a student being a close contact, they should notify the student’s parents.”

This guidance is being provided as local and state governments struggle to figure out how to return schools to in-person learning in fall amid rising infections caused by the rise in the delta variant.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises that contact tracing along with other measures such as quarantining and isolation are important for keeping schools safe.

The Austin Independent School District, which served over 75,000 students in the 2020-21 school year, said on Twitter that it will not be following TEA’s guidance on contact tracing