San Antonio – Bexar County superintendents are awaiting more details from the Texas Education Agency to see if they will get additional flexibility with their back to school plan this coming fall.
On Tuesday Mayor Ron Nirenberg said a meeting with local leaders and 17 area superintendents revealed they were under a lot of pressure from parents and the community to continue the online learning model well into the start of the new 2020-2021 school year.
“We are not ready to come back to school full speed on the days they’re scheduled to open,” Nirenberg said.
Local leaders are looking to see how the situation changes in August to get a better sense of when it might be safe to reopen school buildings.
Metro Health Director Colleen Bridger says they’ll work with local districts if state leaders don’t respond to the requests for more online learning flexibility.
“We would need to work with the mayor, judge and 17 school districts to make sure that we’re all on the some page with what needs to happen in order to keep our children and our teachers as safe as possible while recognizing that sometimes the safest place is in school,” Bridger said.
The Texas Tribune reports that Governor Greg Abbott indicated Tuesday that directives from the TEA with more time for online learning, rather than the three weeks previously mandate would be announced soon.