Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune

Schools will be open, though whether students will be there is another story.

Texas is starting the summer in a less-than-ideal position. Over the course of the week, thousands of new COVID-19 cases cropped up all over the state, with case records being broken every day. Things hit their peak this past Wednesday when over 3,000 new cases were reported. To say a return to normalcy isn’t on the table right now would be an understatement, but apparently, Texas Governor Greg Abbott thinks things will be okay in another few months.

In a public statement on Thursday, Gov. Abbott announced that all Texas public schools will be slated to reopen for the fall semester in mid-August. Though specific practices are still pending, as of right now, the schools will require neither face masks nor COVID-19 tests for students or faculty. Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath believes that schools will definitely be safe for students by August, but the schools will allow for flexibility with remote education for families who don’t think it’s safe for their children.

Statement from Commissioner Morath #txed pic.twitter.com/OUUzyclPQx

— Texas Education Agency (@teainfo) June 18, 2020

By his own admission, in-person schooling is an absolute priority for Gov. Abbott. “I will tell you that my goal is to see students back in classrooms in seats, interacting personally with teachers as well as other students,” Abbott said earlier this week. “This is a very important environmental setting for both the students, for the teachers and for the parents. And so we believe that students in schools is the best outcome.”

Of course, things may not turn out the way Gov. Abbott wants. Recently, players from the University of Texas’ football team met in Austin for a group workout. 13 members of that team have now tested positive for COVID-19, speaking to the volatility of the virus. Even if the schools reopen, things may end up being a bit on the vacant side.