NELSON W. WOLFF COUNTY JUDGE Office of the Mayor Ron Nirenberg Mayo Governor Greg Abbott Office of the Governor State Insurance Building. 1100 San Jacinto ‘Austin, Texas 78701 ‘Dear Governor Abbott, ‘On behalf of San Antonio and Bexar County residents, we would like to thank you and your partners forthe acquisition and swift delivery of our first round of COVID-19 vaccinations. As the San Antonio region continues to experience high positivity rates, extensive community spread, and rising hospitalizations, we are all eager to meet a future free of consternation and confusion. Recently, our Local Health Authority issued guidance for our area school districts cautioning against extensive in-person education in ‘our school campus buildings. Understanding the State's current emergency orders and school reopening policies, we write to request fan amendment to Texas's vaccine priority tiers and to ask for your support for widespread, regular COVID-19 testing in our schools. School nurses are rightfully considered a priority in the Texas vaccination process, but we believe that teachers and faculty should be included in your two frontline tiers. While schoo! nurses are more likely to interact with students who may be sick, studies have shown that children, teens and young adults are les likely to present with COVID-19 symptoms — making teachers and faculty just as, susceptible to the asymptomatic spread of this pandemic. If there are available CARES Act resources atthe State level, we hope that they can be prioritized to offer regular testing for Texas students, educators and faculty. In our region, we already have a working pilot program. Community Labs, a local nonprofit, has partnered with a few area educational institutions to provide regular testing to their respective populations. Unfortunately, there are only a handful of campuses that benefit from regular testing at this point in time. ‘With the holiday season upon us, and the potential for an uptick in travel and gatherings, we must do everything we can to bring peace ‘of mind to our students, parens, teachers, faculty and community. We appreciate your consideration and suppor. Sincerely, Mayor, City of San County Judge, Bexar County Ub Ww bAle