DALLAS - Dallas ISD, like many other school districts, will start the school year entirely online. The move was announced just as the Dallas mayor began hosting back to school fair.
Mayor Eric Johnson’s annual event got underway Friday morning at Fair Park for families in vehicles.
Thousands of parents and their children were able to drive through and pick up free school supplies and backpacks.
Because of the pandemic, the event was held over two days this year. On Thursday night, there was a walk-up option.
Also on Thursday, the Dallas Independent School District confirmed that students will spend the first month of the school year learning online.
Many families at Friday’s event said they feel comfortable with the decision to stay online for the first few weeks, but everyone wants to know when it’ll be safe to go back to school in-person.
Public health officials said the reality is that no one can say for sure exactly when.
Friday’s back to school fair was a much-needed break for some parent who are struggling to stay afloat.
“I lost my job, so I got another job, but it’s only part-time, I don’t get enough to pay for everything, my house, my bills. It’s really hard now,” parent Sandra Martinez said.
RELATED: Dallas ISD to start school year with online-only learning until at least early October
Superintendent Dr. Michael Hinojosa said the district is following the recommendation of county health experts, who remain concerned about the spread of COVID-19
The school board will decide in September whether students will return to the classrooms after the first month or stick with the virtual approach.
Dallas County Health Director Dr. Philip Huang said they also worked with an advisory group of child behavioral health and pediatric infectious disease experts to consider all factors.
“Our hospitalizations are still at high levels. But I think we’re making progress, we’re seeing improvements, but we need to continue this and get the transmission rate in the community down to lower levels,” he added.
Even though the county’s cases appear to be trending down and hospitalizations are steady, Dr. Huang said they would like to see a consistent downward trend and lower transmission rate before advising kids go back to school.
“We’re plateauing now, but remember, we plateaued before, and when we plateaued before, we were plateaued at a much lower level, much lower numbers. Now we’re slowing down, the increases we’ve been seeing, but we’re still plateaued at a much higher level,” he explained.
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Dallas mayor hosts drive-thru back to school fair
Dallas ISD like many other school districts will start the school year entirely online. The move was announced right as the Dallas mayor began hosting his annual back to school fair.
Mayor Johnson said the district had a tough decision but he supports the approach because it’s based on science and seeks to balance concerns about public health and education.
“My son is a DISD student and I’m glad the superintendent is listening to the science and public health authorities when he’s making decisions about when to reopen schools and not listening to political rhetoric or people who are trying to advance a political agenda on either side when making a decision about when my child is safe to return to school,” he said.
The head of the teacher’s union for Dallas ISD said she is encouraged that the district is taking a cautious approach when it comes to resuming school on campus. She believes remote learning is the way to go right now.
Some parents expressed support for getting kids back into the classroom but others said the health risks aren’t worth it.
The decision to have only online classes starting on Sept. 8 means, for now, extracurricular activities like football and marching band are on hold too.
For now, Dallas ISD parents are busy picking up supplies to get connected for the first few weeks of school online.
“They gave us school uniforms and school supplies and they also gave us Chromebooks,” Dallas ISD parent Crystal Ruiz said.
Dallas ISD is distributing more than 60,000 devices to families to help with online learning up to at least early october.
“Learning is very important, but you know what, the lives of everyone is more important,” said Myrene Cuniga, whose grandchild attends Dallas ISD.
Parents said the annual tradition makes a big difference and because of the down economy the need is greater than ever.
LINK: www.mayorsbacktoschoolfair.com