Fort Worth school officials move start date. Classes will be online-only for 4 weeks.
Fort Worth schools will remain closed until Sept. 8, the school board decided Thursday after more than five hours of deliberation and public comment.
Fort Worth school officials had previously released a reopening plan where classes would have started Aug. 17 and families could choose either online or in-person instruction for their children. Now, the first day will be Sept. 8, a day after Labor Day, and classes will be online-only for four weeks. The goal is for families then to have the option to continue virtual learning or switch to in-person classes.
The motion passed 8-1 with board member CJ Evans of District 5 voting against it.
“The board’s position was that health and safety were the number one priority for our students, faculty and staff,” Fort Worth Independent School District Superintendent Kent P. Scribner said at a press conference after the board meeting.
Schools will still open for students with special needs, as their needs can only be met with in-person instruction, he said.
The Fort Worth ISD Board of Education held Thursday’s emergency meeting following Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s guidance on Tuesday that it was up to school officials, not public health authorities, to decide how and when to start classes amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Paxton’s non-binding ruling states that public health authorities may not close schools “for the sole purpose of preventing future COVID-19 infections.”
The Texas Education Agency responded to Paxton’s ruling and released a statement saying schools that begin the school year with remote instruction only will continue to be funded for up to eight weeks. But after those eight weeks, schools must reopen fully. Online instruction can continue to be offered to families who prefer it, but the agency will require daily on-campus instruction as well.
If schools close due to COVID-19 cases on campus during the school year, online instruction will be funded, the TEA’s statement says.
Scribner said the weeks leading up to the start date will be dedicated to training staff to better teach virtually. This will also provide time to train parents on the technology used.
With virtual instruction, questions arise if all students will have access to computers and the internet. Scribner said, like in the spring, the district will be handing out computers and hotspots. The board recently ordered 10,000 more devices, totaling $2.4 million, he said.
As for parents who work full-time, the district’s early childhood program will provide additional help and more information will be released soon.
Paxton’s statement came one week after Tarrant County’s top health officials issued an order that would have required the first six weeks of school to be online only because of the growth in coronavirus cases. Health authorities said their goal was to keep students at home until several weeks after the Labor Day holiday to avoid a potential spike in cases that could spread through schools.
After reviewing Paxton’s guidance, Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley told county health officials their order was suspended because it “exceeded the scope of their statutory authority.”
Scribner said during a Tuesday virtual town hall that online learning in the fall will be a robust and consistent experience, one that will be different from what was offered in the spring.
The district’s virtual learning will be asynchronous, which means students will work at their own pace, Scribner said. The district’s reopening plan also states that teachers have undergone and will continue to undergo training to better teach online. Parents will also have access to their children’s accounts and can track their progress, making it easier for children to be held accountable.
Those who choose in-person classes will need to follow the district’s safety guidelines.
Students and staff will be required to wear face masks. Those who can’t for medical reasons will need to wear a face shield. Staff will take students’ temperatures every day, and students who have fevers will not be allowed inside.
Desks will be spaced out for social distancing and sanitization stations will be placed around the schools, according to the district’s plans. Similar guidelines will be placed for bus rides and physical education activities, among other things.
During the Thursday board meeting, over 70 parents, teachers and students gave their opinion on the district reopening. The vast majority urged the board to look at the science and delay the start of in-person classes.
Norma Garcia-Lopez, a community organizer with United Fort Worth, said the Latino community is being affected heavily by COVID-19 and in Fort Worth there are multi-generational Hispanic households that are exposed to the virus if students are back on campus.
“My community is constantly attacked and we have leaders that dismiss and don’t care about the elders,” she said.
She said there shouldn’t be a choice of either online or in-person because the pandemic is a public health issue, not an individual one.
“The health of everyone matters more than anything,” she said.
This story was originally published July 30, 2020 at 1:56 PM.
