North Texas School Districts Developing Back-To-School Plans: 'We're Going To Get Creative'
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - North Texas school districts are developing their plans for the fall.
"We're going to get creative," said Wylie ISD Superintendent David Vinson. "Educators always are, and we're going to make sure our kids are safe and healthy when they're at school."
Wylie is one of several area school districts waiting to make concrete announcements.
While they don't have firm plans yet, they do have three proposals for parents: an in-person model, a virtual model and a hybrid model.
Like Wylie, Dallas ISD is waiting for more information from the Texas Education Agency and the CDC.
Frisco ISD said it hopes to be able to communicate plans by early April.
Fort Worth and Garland have announced that families will be able to choose between in-person and virtual classes.
CBS 11 spoke with two experts, Dallas County Health and Human Services Director Dr. Philip Huang and epidemiologist Dr. Diana Cervantes.
"I think we're waiting, and a lot of school districts are waiting, to see how things progress," said Dr. Huang. "I mean today we had our highest number of cases ever reported."
Both doctors say families have a lot to consider when deciding if kids should go back into the classroom.
Dr. Cervantes said to ask a few questions.
"How transparent is a district being in what they're doing?" she suggested. "How much are they involving parents to get input?"
Some other questions she suggested you consider:
Are your kids at higher risk?
What about the family members they have contact with?
Dr. Huang said to keep in mind that this is still a very fluid situation.
"We're still learning more about the virus every day and still trying to determine how important is spread among children in that community spread," he said.
CBS 11 is working to find out plans for the other school districts in North Texas.