Officials with the Dallas ISD are working to slow the spread of COVID-19 among students, but they say it isn’t an easy job.
The school year just started and already, hundreds of COVID-19 cases are being reported across the Dallas ISD.
Superintendent Dr. Michael Hinojosa says the district isn’t to the point where it’s thinking about shutting down schools yet, but he says the numbers are definitely concerning.
“What is kind of disturbing is that our numbers are going up with students— and mostly elementary students,” Hinojosa says. “Because they’re the ones that are unvaccinated.”
Dr. Hinojosa says most people are being very compliant with the district’s mask mandate. He says no teachers or staff members are refusing to comply, and across every campus in the district, only 25 students are refusing to wear masks.
“For those 25 students, we’re making alternate arrangements,” Dr. Hinojosa says. “We’re going to be fair, but we’re also going to be firm about the expectations that we have for the protocols.”
Dr. Hinojosa says giving students the ability to “opt out” of wearing masks— like some other districts have done— would make it difficult to keep the virus from spreading, and he says he won’t compromise when it comes to the health of students.
“Let’s keep an eye on all this,” Dr. Hinojosa says. “Let’s keep playing it out in the courts and in the hospitals and we’ll figure out what the best for everybody is.”
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