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Face-to-face or virtual learning? Some Boerne parents won't have a choice

Two Boerne ISD elementaries are in Bexar County which has a health directive not allowing schools to offer in-person classes until after Labor Day.

BOERNE, Texas — Boerne Independent School District announced a plan this week to safely open their campus doors to students next month.

The district is giving parents a choice of in-person or e-learning for the start of the upcoming school year.

“I am 100 percent comfortable with it,” said Boerne ISD parent, Amanda Glore.

Glore’s 16-year-old son, Ryan, attends Boerne High School, and she said he’s struggled with being isolated from his friends and teachers.

“His mental stability is really struggling just with the fact that he's allowed to work and be out in the community. But things like church and school have been taken away from him, so it's hard for him to understand at his age,” said Glore.

She also said her son struggles with virtual learning, especially since she and her husband have had to work during the pandemic, and there’s no one at home to help and encourage him with assignments.

“There’s not someone in the house that can help him with his questions or with his schoolwork.  So, he really needs someone to hold him academically responsible….and making sure he’s grasping what he’s learning,” said Glore.

Summer Poole has daughters in both middle and high school in the district, and she said as a single mother, going back to school in person, just made sense.

“We felt like distance learning was going to be difficult for us as far as the logistics of it, them staying home alone, and not having me there to help them,” she said.

Poole acknowledges that other parents may choose to keep their kids at home e-learning.

“But if you can't do that or your kids have different needs and they need to be back in the classroom, that's just the beauty of Boerne giving us a choice as parents,” said Poole.

Poole also teaches third grade in Boerne ISD and said she understands why some parents may be nervous about sending their children back to school, but assures parents their job is to help keep their children safe.

“That's what we do. We keep our kids safe. We do the best we can to make sure that everything they're doing all day long is in the safest possible manner and whatever is best for them,” said Poole.  “We're always going to make sure that we're putting the kids first. That's what we do in Boerne.”

Bryan Benway, Director of Communications at Boerne ISD, said over 80 percent of their parents supported the notion of bringing students back to campus.

“We feel like we’re going to be a leader on the forefront of going back to school this year with giving parents the choice,” said Benway. “We want all of our parents to be able to get that choice because we think parents know what's best for their children and for their families.”

Benway said the district has implemented stringent health protocols to keeps students, teachers, and staff safe on campus.

“We truly feel that with all the requirements that we have put in place and our teachers are principals and our staff, enforcing what we have, we feel that everybody is going to be safe because that's the top priority for us, is the safety of everybody that's going to be in those buildings,” said Benway.

But for two schools in the district, parents won’t be able that choice as of now.

“We were caught off-guard by the Bexar County public health mandate,” said Benway.

Benway is referring to San Antonio Metro Health’s directive announced on Friday that prohibits schools in Bexar County to offer in-person instruction until at least after Labor Day.

Fair Oaks Elementary School and Van Raub Elementary School, both in Fair Oaks Ranch, are also both in Bexar County.

“We don’t think it’s fair that our students in Bexar County have to be mandated to either go all online or nothing.  We want our parents to have the choice for all of our school district,” said Benway.

Benway said the district has reached out to local and state leaders, in addition to the Texas Education Agency, requesting a waiver that would allow the two elementary schools to reopen to students on campus.

“It's reached all the way up to the Governor's office and they're reviewing our plans. They're reviewing our county. They're reviewing our schools,” said Benway. “And, we let them know that our parents overwhelmingly in this early survey want to have that choice.”

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