A petition on Change.org is calling on the Brownsville Independent School District to offer virtual learning as an option this school year rather than require students to attend in-person classes as mandated by the Texas Education Agency.
The petition states that parents have to do what’s right for their children regardless of funding issues.
“BISD should offer virtual learning as an option due to this pandemic. Yes funds are very important, but are those $40 a day/child they receive worth our children to end up in the hospital or dead? As seen on our Cameron County website, the numbers keep rising every day. We need to protect our children and virtual learning will help keep them safe and lower the numbers it has been proven,” the petition started by Cinthya Morelos states.
As of mid-afternoon Monday, just under 1,000 people had signed the petition in the 24 hours since Morelos started the effort.
In a letter addressed to the BISD community and dated July 29, Superintendent Rene Gutierrez states that BISD has no other option except to require in-person classroom instruction.
Saying the district looks forward to welcoming students back to its classrooms, Gutierrez states: “The Texas Legislature does not provide funding for school districts to offer virtual instruction for the 2021-2022 school year. Therefore Brownsville ISD’s only option is to provide in-person instruction.”
The Change.org petition encourages people who sign petitions to state their reasons for doing so.
Cynthia Picazo wrote that BISD should offer virual instruction at least to students who can’t get vaccinated. “Also the new guidelines just released from TEA that parents no longer need to be notified of a positive case is just ridiculous. How is that keeping other kids safe?” she wrote.
Currently, vaccines to protect against COVID-19 are only approved for people 12 and older.
Miranda Fragoso wrote that she signed the petition “because I want my child not to be forced into a classroom with 20 other children! It needs to be optional, not mandatory.”
TO READ OR SIGN THE PETITION
https://www.change.org/p/concerned-parents-bisd-to-offer-virtual-classes
