Eagle Pass Independent School District Teachers Return to Work on Monday, August 24, 2020 for New School Year
By: Miguel Munoz, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2020
About 868 teachers at the Eagle Pass Independent School District (EPISD) return to work on Monday, August 24, 2020, to prepare for the opening of the new 2020-2021 school year the following Monday, August 31 amid concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Eagle Pass Independent School District Board of Trustees approved at a special meeting on August 12, 2020, the administration’s reopening plan dubbed “The Safe 2 Learn Plan.” EPISD Deputy Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction John Cox presented the reopening plan to the school board at the August 12 meeting. “The Safe 2 Learn Plan” was published and made available to the public on August 21, 2020, nine days after its approval, on the website of the EPISD.
According to the EPISD website, there are 868 teachers employed at the EPISD, 1,932 staff persons, 14,300 plus students, and 24 campuses.
The EPISD Board of Trustees also approved to give each parent the choice to select whether to have their children receive in-person instruction or online/remote instruction for the first four weeks of the 2020-2021 school year starting on August 31.
Many EPISD teachers have expressed concerns regarding allowing in-person instruction for the first four weeks in light of the surging COVID-19 infections in Maverick County, State of Texas, and United States. Teachers are concerned both about the health and safety of their students and themselves possibly being infected with COVID-19 during these first four weeks of in-person instruction at the 24 campuses.
Although the EPISD administration has done a thorough review of health and safety considerations in designing “The Safe 2 Learn Plan,” teachers remain wary about their students and themselves being infected with the deadly COVID-19.
Some teachers have prepared or updated their last will and testament and have purchased additional health and disability insurance as a precautionary measure. Other teachers have decided to retire instead of risking becoming infected with COVID-19 at their workplace. Education experts predict a shortage of teachers across the nation due to the risks associated with contracting COVID-19 at school.
The State of Texas has now approved a requirement that all public school districts report the total number of confirmed positive COVID-19 cases within their district and make these reports available to the public. Several EPISD employees and staff members have been infected with COVID-19 in recent weeks, including fatalities.
In other public school districts in the United States that opened up with in-person instruction, there have been many cases reported where students and teachers became infected with COVID-19 and requiring that many be quarantined or revert to online/remote instruction.
Eagle Pass Mayor Luis E. Sifuentes, who works as the Head Counselor at Eagle Pass High School, recommended to all parents of EPISD students to elect online/remote instruction for the first four weeks of the 2020-2021 school year at a press conference on August 19, 2020. Mayor Sifuentes noted that all his children will be doing online/remote instruction.
As the 868 EPISD teachers report to work on Monday, August 24, their concerns regarding their students and their own health and safety will remain on their minds as they prepare for the new school year.
