With Austin's school year nearing, the education union is requesting several actions before classes can resume. | Stock photo
With Austin's school year nearing, the education union is requesting several actions before classes can resume. | Stock photo
With the new school year approaching, the union representing the Austin Independent School District (AISD) teachers and staff released a list of demands for the upcoming academic year, including no in-person classes until mid-November.
To help justify its position, Education Austin started an online petition to delay the school-opening start date that as of Aug. 14 had more than 4,600 signatures out of a collection goal of 6,400. Academic studies are scheduled to open on Tuesday, Aug. 18.
“We need to stop the return of on-campus learning until public health data shows it is safe for students, families, teachers and school employees,” the union wrote on the petition website.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott
| File photo
Other union-backed demands include the district providing personal protective equipment for staff, students and visitors on every campus in the district, guaranteeing that teachers will get their full pay with no layoffs or furloughs, and AISD schools should only reopen when there is a decline in new COVID-19 cases for at least 14 consecutive days, a positive test rate of less than 5% and a transmission rate of less than 1%, KXAN News reported.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told KXAN in an Aug. 3 interview that he believes it’s important that the decision-making authority on when and how to begin the school year rests with the school district.
“The bottom line is this, the power of decision-making authorities is exactly where it should be," Abbott told KXAN. "And that is with the local school-board level. They have all the flexibility they need to keep students and teachers safe.”
When asked about the possibility of teachers choosing to retire rather than risk returning to schools, Abbott said teachers and staff should have no safety concerns about returning and they should be confident in the precautions schools are required to take.
“There is no concern that teachers should have with regard to the safety setting of the school environment — knowing full-well they have the capability of educating children remotely for months on end before they do have to go into a classroom,” Abbott told KXAN. “What we need now are teachers who are going to step up and make sure that we do not lose a generation of students simply because of the pandemic.”
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