AUSTIN, Texas — Education Austin, the union for Austin Independent School District teachers and staff, is claiming victory after calling for an extension of the online learning period amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The union on Wednesday tweeted, “The superintendent will file for a TEA waiver ‘to extend the opportunity to remain in a virtual capacity for an additional 4 weeks.’ We organized, and the district heard us loud and clear: the safety of our students, staff, and community is our only priority.”
The union went on to say it is deeply concerned about operations during in-person learning and that numerous unanswered questions remain.
AISD will still go forward with a phased plan that will allow for a hybrid model permitting some virtual learning and in-classroom instruction.
In a video posted to social media, Education Austin president Ken Zarifis expressed concern.
“On Monday we found out at the board meeting the superintendent was not going to submit an additional four-week waiver to TEA to allow for just online instruction after October 5th. We were clearly disappointed with that,” Zarifis said. “We feel that submitting the waiver, maintaining online for as long as possible is very important for the safety and health of our kids, workers, and their families.”
Zarifis additionally spoke about the importance of AISD having a safety plan in place.
“We don’t want to just say that we’re going to practice social distancing. It’s vitally important that we have a protocol, a concrete plan,” he said.
In addition, the union is pushing for students to be tested for COVID-19 prior to boarding school buses and virtual-only learning until the positivity rate is below 5 percent for two consecutive weeks.
AISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizade on Wednesday issued a statement on the waiver, which reads, in part:
“I appreciate the correspondence and the inquiries that I have received for a waiver to extend the opportunity to remain in a virtual capacity for an additional four weeks.
“The waiver is necessary for our district to implement a phased-in approach as recommended by Austin Public Health so as to allow only students who choose to return (up to 25% of the campus capacity in two-week increments). The waiver in no way allows for a continuation of a 100% virtual setting. Therefore, I will be submitting the waiver to reflect the following:
“According to Austin Public Health, when in Stage 3, the district is encouraged to open up with up to 50 percent capacity. However, out of an abundance of caution, we will open on October 5 with only up to 25 percent building capacity and remain for 2 weeks.
“During this time, we will closely monitor the number of COVID-19 positive cases that are reported in the district among students and staff. We would then anticipate expanding our capacity to 50 percent on Monday, October 19 for two weeks.”