After a meeting that lasted more than seven hours, the Fort Worth school board voted to resume in-person classes as scheduled on October 5.
The board voted 5-4 in favor of a "hybrid" plan about 1 a.m. Wednesday.
Parents will be able to choose in-person or online classes. Superintendent Kent Scribner says about 37,000 families responded to a survey; 52 percent favored in-person learning, 48 percent wanted to stay online for an additional four weeks.
The board heard about two hours of public comment from teachers and parents. Most teachers who spoke wanted in-person classes to be postponed. Teachers and parents on both sides talked about challenges they faced with online learning.
Scribner had proposed the system where families could choose whether to return in-person or stay online. He says the district is now working on plans to reopen schools safely.
"How do we set up our classes in terms of social distancing? Lunch planning, cafeteria set-up, all of those things that are required to run a safe and orderly campus," he says.
The Texas Education Agency allowed districts to start with four weeks of virtual classes. After that, school boards could vote to extend virtual instruction for an additional four weeks, but those extensions must come with a "phase-in" plan to return in-person or let parents choose which option to take.
For transportation, Scribner says no more than two students will be allowed on each seat on buses. If about half of students return in-person, he says buses will have adequate space.
"We will have wellness checks that will be required prior to boarding the bus," he says. "Masks will stringently be required."
Masks will also be required for all students and staff at schools. Students' temperatures will also be taken daily.
When a student does test positive, Scribner says the student will be quarantined and a notice will be sent to teachers, staff and families at the campus. He says contact tracing will begin, and anyone who had contact with the student will be quarantined. If contact tracing cannot be completed, the campus will close for 14 days.
Tarrant County Health Director Vinny Taneja urged board members to be "very gradual and cautious" about plans to return to the classroom.
"Continue to plan, but also have a 'Plan B,'" he said.
Taneja says new cases and the rate of tests coming back positive had been declining after peaks in July, but the numbers have stopped dropping in the past two to three weeks.
"There's data showing us there's trouble brewing," he said. "Once we get to around two or three weeks from Labor Day, we will know for sure if cases are spiking or not."
Right now, Taneja says the positivity rate in Tarrant County is between nine and ten percent. Statewide, the positivity rate reported Tuesday was 6.8%.
