Students in Fort Worth ISD began with online learning Tuesday morning. The district has planned to stay with online classes only for at least four weeks.
"This is a difficult time. We have not had our students in person since March, and this is a first day like no other," says Superintendent Kent Scribner. "It's certainly not something any of us would have been able to predict."
Fort Worth ISD has given out 21,000 WiFi hotspots and 42,000 Chromebooks to help students connect for online classes.
"It's our hope that we not only hit the ground running today with online learning, but we get our students back into classrooms as soon as possible. That's the goal," Scribner says. "We want to monitor our COVID-19 numbers, make sure they continue to go in the right direction and continue to decrease here in Tarrant County."
"Clearly, we would love to have all these kids in the classroom," says Mayor Betsy Price. "I thoroughly believe every child is going to learn better in front of a teacher and with their peers."
Price met with Scribner Tuesday morning at the district's teaching and learning center. She says she hopes students will return to school "sooner rather than later. We just want to do it safely."
"This is a generation of change," she says. "I think they're a lot more resilient because they have to learn to deal with these changes. They have to get more creative."
Scribner says the district is working with Tarrant County Public Health on a plan to resume in-person classes safely. The health department has said new cases should drop below 100 per 100,000 people per week before starting in-person classes. Fort Worth ISD says some parts of the district have already dropped below that number.
"We still are seeing substantial community spread in Tarrant County, however," Scribner says. "We want to have them continue to decline so we can get our schools open, and they can stay open."
Tuesday, September 15, the Fort Worth ISD school board will meet to discuss the timeline for in-person learning.
> @FortWorthISD starts this morning with online classes only for the first 4 weeks. Superintendent: "This is a difficult time. This is a first day like no other. It's certainly not something any of us would have been able to predict. Live report at 7:03 on @KRLD. pic.twitter.com/xvtC9rpzba
— Alan Scaia (@scaia) September 8, 2020
