School-District Employees, Parents, and Students - YOU are Part of the Returning-to-School Solution

            School-district employees, parents, and high-school students…are you listening?  If you are, then it’s time to take the next step by chiming in to your district administrators and school-board members. As I’m sure you are aware, some important (and tough) decisions are being formulated right now regarding the plans for returning to school.

            At 3:00 this afternoon, Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Morath is expected to deliver guidance from the Texas Education Agency to school districts throughout the state.  (Similar conversations are happening across the country, of course.) Quite a bit of speculation has been swirling around in anticipation for this guidance, which was expected last Monday…then Tuesday…and now today.

            Here in Hidalgo County, facial masks are required inside all businesses.  Social (or, as some prefer to call it, “proper”) distancing is still encouraged/expected, and here, the number of people testing positive is definitely on the rise. The speculation seems to be that the State of Texas will offer a lot of latitude to districts regarding “to wear, or not to wear” masks and social distancing in classrooms, in hallways/cafeterias/libraries/auditoriums, and on school buses. If this speculation is on point, that leaves those decisions up to the districts, and if I were a current district employee, parent, or student, I would want to provide input. That’s why I am encouraging you to do so.

            I attend (in person, normally, but right now, virtually) all McAllen ISD School Board meetings and report on them for McAllen AFT. I am also currently serving on the Donna ISD Task Force, exploring options for students to return to school and for employees to return to work. Lately, I find myself pausing throughout these meetings, reminding myself that “this, too, shall pass” because it truly is an overwhelming challenge, unlike any most of us have ever experienced. It is like this gigantic puzzle that needs to be put together in a short period of time…but several of the pieces needed to complete it are missing.

            When will the rise in positive cases and hospitalizations end? What happens if a student or employee on campus tests positive? Who will do all of the extra sanitizing that is going to be so important? Are there enough teachers to teach students on campus, as well as those who choose to stay home?  (I doubt there will be many districts offering only on-campus education as they are likely opening themselves up to losing a large number of students.) And, let’s be honest, how are districts going to be able to pay for all of this?

            What do I suggest you do right now?

1. Breathe!  Anxiety causes problems of its own, so breathe, first, and then get involved in the process.

2. Listen/read Mike Morath’s guidance to school superintendents. I have been told it should be posted on the Moak Casey & Associates YouTube page by this evening.  If not, watch all of the news alerts certain to come out this evening.

3. Once you know what the guidance from TEA is, contact your local school administrators and/or school-board members to provide your input. Many districts currently have parent surveys about returning to school. If you are a parent and your district has one available, did you complete and submit it?

4. If you are a district employee who has an underlying medical condition, you need to notify your administrators as soon as possible with that information. You will likely need a letter from your doctor, though that has not been made official, as far as I know. In the MISD School Board meetings, administrators have said they will need to provide “reasonable accommodations” for employees with underlying medical conditions. Your doctor may want to suggest accommodations.

5. IF this is not addressed in the guidelines, this is a critical step:  Contact Mike Morath, Governor Abbott, and your local legislators and tell them how critical it is for ADA (Average Daily Attendance) to continue to be counted for students learning from home. If it isn’t, school districts will lose funding for every one of those students while still having the responsibility of educating them. Texas could also join the vast majority of states across the nation that base funding on enrollment rather than on attendance. That would be another solution.  When you contact them, you may also want to push for “NO STAAR,” in light of this COVID conundrum.

a.       Texas Education Agency Commissioner, Mike Morath at commissioner@tea.texas.gov or 512-463-9734

b.      Office of the Governor Greg Abbott at 512-463-1782 or https://gov.texas.gov/apps/contact/opinion.aspx

c.       To find your representatives in the Texas Legislature, click here: https://wrm.capitol.texas.gov/home

6. Remember school is not scheduled to start until August. In this ever-changing environment, numbers could look much different by then. As I have heard over and over, “the situation is fluid.” 

7. Most of the educators with whom I have spoken WANT to return to school. Parents, too, need to return to work and to their normal routines. It will happen……but in the meantime, if any situation ever required a village, this is it.  Providing intelligent, calmly delivered, fact-based input now is so much more productive than anger after decisions have been made.

Once you have chosen to become part of the solution, remember that it’s summer. Enjoy

a family picnic (or even a picnic-for-one) in your back yard. Go for a walk at your neighborhood park. Go shopping at some of your locally owned shops.

Hopefully, before summer is over, we will all be able to safely enjoy a weekend getaway or an actual vacation.

            This, too, shall pass.  Until then---be the solution!

NOTE:  I will post follow-up documentation on this underneath in the comments. 

Chris Ardis retired in May of 2013 following a 29-year teaching career. She now helps companies with business communications and social media. Chris can be reached at cardis1022@aol.com. (Photo by Linda Blackwell, McAllen)