One week or less after Houston-area schools started their sessions, the school district website reported over 1,700 active COVID-19 cases among their students.
According to reports, Dayton ISD’s COVID-19 tracker, Galena Park, declared that 25 students and 10 staff members tested positive for COVID-19. Park also reported a total of 62 active cases in the district.
Though the numbers are considered low when compared against the number of enrolled students in each district, parents have expressed their concern as the sessions have only just started.
Health experts also expressed concern about the highly contagious Delta variant, leaving more parents feeling frustrated about the apparent lack of safe options. Some parents from Fort Bend have expressed their desire to be able to choose whether or not to send their children back to the classroom.
Neeraj Kumar, a Fort Bend ISD parent urged, “Give people the choice they want to make. Don’t put the health of the kids who are the future of this nation at risk.”
Some parents also complained about not having options to wear masks or take virtual classes. “Being able to wear a mask, and making sure my kid is going virtual and she’s getting the education that she needs, is my choice, and I think that needs to be respected,” said Bhavani Natesan, another Fort Bend ISD parent. “I don’t see that happening.”
On the other hand, Fort Bend ISD’s said that they are continuously monitoring the situation to ensure the students’ and the staff’s safety.
In a statement, Fort Bend ISD announced that the district will not hesitate to close buildings for disinfection when needed.
As many of our Houston-area school districts face complaints about safety, Fort Bend ISD announced that they are opening a limited enrollment Virtual Learning Program (VLP) option by Aug. 30, 2021.
According to an ABC13 report, Fort Bend ISD has declared over 5,000 applications for the VLP. The announcement also said that only 1,041 students qualified for the approximately 1,000 seats in the VLP.
