Dallas City Wire

When the Highland Independent School District (ISD) offered parents the option for their children to attend class virtually or return to class in person two weeks ago, 82% opted for live learning and 18% chose remote instruction, according to school officials.

“We have been very fortunate to work with an accommodating county health department that has answered all of our questions in terms of what we need to do to open safely,” said Jon Dahlander, chief of staff for Highland Park ISD. “We listened to their guidance. We listened to the guidance of the Texas Education Agency and the CDC. We've combined all of those resources.”

The Highland ISD is among the Texas districts 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.

“The governor required school districts to open for in-person instruction for those families who choose it and to provide virtual instruction at the same,” Dahlander told the Dallas City Wire. “It is important for us to open because that’s what school districts do. We provide an education for kids. We are a very high performing school district and our parents move here because they trust in the schools. We want to do everything we can to maintain that trust, which includes keeping students healthy and safe, keeping our staff healthy and safe, and providing quality instruction every day.”

In addition to installing plexiglass to ensure social distancing in high traffic areas, protocols include wearing face masks, using hand sanitizer and frequently washing hands each day.

“If you do all of those things, then it provides a better opportunity to open safely because it says to students and staff that this is important and we are doing what we need to keep everyone safe,” said Dahlander in an interview. “We're leaving no stone unturned in trying to keep everybody healthy and safe. Without teachers, we don't have school and so we’ve put all these precautions into place to keep them there. So far, we've been successful.”

Texas has experienced a coronavirus surge in recent months. A total of 688,534 cases were reported as of Sept. 20 with 14,893 deaths, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. But the coronavirus has not deterred the Highland ISD.

“We've been fortunate to tap into some money that's been made available by the state and by the federal government to help us be prepared,” Dahlander said. “Yes, there is an expense but most of it is being reimbursed.”

The 5,740 students on-site are complying with federal rules and regulations intended to keep them free of the coronavirus and to slow the spread.

“Everybody is just glad to be back in class because we've been out of school for six months, but there are challenges,” he said. “Lunch can be a challenge because we're all accustomed to being able to sit and have a conversation with the person sitting next to us but now we have these partitions that are in place. You can still have a discussion but it's just a little bit different with barriers that are in the way. Everybody's working through that as best as they can, and so far it’s working.”