Waco Reporter

When the Crawford Independent School District superintendent offered parents the option for their children to attend class virtually or return to class in person, 94% opted for live learning and 6% chose remote instruction, according to school officials.

“The feeling primarily on the part of our families and students was emotional that we need to be back together, we need to be doing the things that we are used to doing and try to get some normalcy back in our lives,” Crawford Superintendent Kenneth Hall said. “I received a number of emails, prior to making the decision, from parents saying that their kids needed to be with other kids and they wanted to get back into a routine. It was more emotional and psychological.”

Crawford ISD is among the districts in Texas that opened brick-and-mortar classroom learning this fall despite the threat of COVID-19 after spending the summer developing a return-to-learn plan.

“We created a schedule where students aren't having to change classrooms so that they're in the same classroom with the same students all day,” Hall told the Waco Reporter. “The only time that they're not in the classroom would be at lunch. On the playground, we keep the classes separated. At the high school, it's a little bit more difficult because they do change classes. We make sure that the classrooms are disinfected between classes.”

The state of Texas has experienced a surge in COVID-19 cases in recent months. A total of 739,222 cases were reported as of Sept. 29 with 15,533 deaths, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.  In McLennan County, home of the Crawford ISD, there have been 8,000 cases reported to date with 102 fatalities.

“We’re not taking every student’s temperature as they enter the building each day at this time unless they show symptoms, and then the school nurse would take their temperature immediately,” Hall said in an interview. "We use the nurse’s office as the quarantine location and they do have a room at the elementary where they would place a student if they were exhibiting symptoms until a parent arrives.” 

Crawford ISD, according to Hall, has not had a coronavirus case among its students so far.

“The biggest regret that I have is when we had the opportunity to go four weeks of 100% remote or even eight weeks, it would have given our teachers a little more time to work on the remote plan part of our plan and it may have been helpful to our staff, but as far as having the students back together, I don't regret that,” Hall said

Hall added the 517 students on-site are complying with the federal rules and regulations intended to keep students free of the coronavirus and to slow the spread.

“There are times we have to remind students to pull their mask up when they slip down, but for the most part they're very compliant because they want to be here and they know that failure to follow the guidelines may mean missing some days, so they've all been compliant,” he said.