Want children in school? Then ‘push back,’ Tarrant County judge tells parents
Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley had some advice Monday for parents who showed up downtown to protest a recent public health order declaring that their children can’t go back to school in person for the first six weeks of the 2020-21 school year.
“Be vocal,” he urged parents. “Let’s hear a little push back.”
Dozens of parents showed up downtown to show their frustration with the order issued in Tarrant County because of spiking coronavirus cases. They fear this will leave some at risk of child abuse or malnutrition because they can’t go to school, which is the one safe space they know. And they fear countless students will fall behind and not be able to catch up.
“We all care about the kids of Tarrant County,” Beth Wieser, a mother of three elementary school children and a family practice physician in Fort Worth, said after the meeting. “We all know that COVID or no COVID, the safest place for any child to be is in a school.”
As Wieser and a dozen other parents spoke with Whitley for about two hours, other parents watched the conversation that was broadcast outside to the crowd. They carried signs that said “It can be done safely,” “Children must be in school” and “Education is more important than your agenda.”
Whitley said he wants students back at school as soon as possible. And he suggested that parents make their desires heard to school officials, the county public health authority and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
“What I hope we will do is try to move forward,” he said after the meeting.
Tarrant County health authorities on July 21 announced that classes would be online only for most students at the beginning of the school year. Students in special education and those who don’t have access to Wi-Fi will be allowed to attend in person.
“I feel the pain that these parents are experiencing,” Whitley said after the discussion was over. “They genuinely are in agony over what effects this will have on their kids.
“If it’s not safe now, then when?”
Whitley said he will talk with Catherine Colquitt, Tarrant County’s public health authority and medical director, who was among those to sign the order that requires public and non-religious private schools to provide only online classes until at least Sept. 28 because of the rising cases of coronavirus.
Whitley encouraged parents to talk with their school officials to suggest creating a plan to keep teachers and students safe and then presenting that to Colquitt. And he said Abbott can issue an order at any time that can override local orders, as he has done before regarding COVID-19.
If the governor, for instance, gave school officials the authority to override public health orders, “it would be their decision on what to do even if it flew in the face of what local health authorities were suggesting.”
Wieser said she and other parents have been trying to push back, but they were pointed to Whitley. That’s why they showed up there Monday.
She said she has sent a note to the governor and the Fort Worth school board.
“Whether or not anyone is listening, we don’t know,” Wieser said. “That’s what I told Judge Whitley, that he is our voice and can he encourage them to do what we all know is best — to get them back in school.”
Slowing the spread
Health authorities said the goal is to keep students at home until several weeks after the Sept. 7 Labor Day holiday to avoid a potential spike in cases that could quickly spread through schools.
The Texas Education Agency said on July 17 that Texas schools could limit in-person classes for the first four weeks, and potentially the next four weeks if their district grants a waiver. Schools also can delay the start of the school year if that’s what is needed to keep students and teachers safe.
But they also listed a variety of safety measures geared to keep people safe at school.
Whitley explained that the decision to keep students online only at the beginning of the school year came after at least three conference calls he helped arrange between health officials and dozens of public, private and charter school officials.
He said school officials supported the health officials’ decision. And the most resistance he saw was when a few districts supported the ability to apply for an exemption if schools presented their plan to keep people safe to the public health department.
Several parents on Monday said they’d like that exemption added back to the order. And they questioned exactly which officials were on the conference calls and when the calls were. Whitley there were between 70 and 100 school officials on the calls and he did not have a list of who participated.
They cited medical advice issued from the CDC shows that the risk of children contracting COVID-19 is minimal.
“The risk of child abuse, neglect, leaving kids behind, ... that is a much greater risk than COVID,” said Tatiana Miller, who has a third-grader in classes in Arlington. “We are going to look back at this and say, ‘What did we do to the children?’”
Parents mentioned that some summer camps are open to children, but those same children can’t attend classes at school next month.
And many said schools, particularly private schools, had plans in place to make class sizes smaller and offered ways to keep students safe.
“It is very frustrating and confusing that one doctor has in her hands the fate of 500,000 families in Tarrant County,” Miller said of Colquitt. “It’s really hard for me to swallow that.”
Tarrant County schools order
The joint order calling for online schooling for public and non-religious private schools in Tarrant County was issued by Colquitt; Cynthia Simmons, the local health authority and medical director in Arlington; and Steve Martin, the local health authority and medical director in Burleson.
The order, which runs through 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 27, does not affect religious schools. It says schools shouldn’t open for in-person schooling except for:
▪ Teachers and staff may conduct online classes from school if they use face coverings and social distance.
▪ School-sponsored events such as sports, band, choir and more may take place remotely or outdoors with social distancing, face coverings and other safety protocols in place.
▪ Special education may occur when necessary at schools with social distancing and face coverings.
▪ Students who don’t have access to a computer or Internet access may learn at school.
Parents noted the order can be amended at any time.
“We are looking for a solution to get students back in the classroom before Sept. 28,” said Amanda Wear, a Fort Worth mother of two elementary school sons.
This story was originally published July 27, 2020 at 4:17 PM.
