SAN ANTONIO — It's easy to get lost in the hours of debate on whether we should re-open schools. But it's not easy Wanda Longoria to see the real consequences if we do.
"I immediately went to his picture on Facebook and I saw him standing there with his precious elementary daughter," the NISD union president said as she began to cry.
"All I can think is this is a single father whose first concern is his child."
Longoria is talking about NISD school bus driver John Lopez and the message she recently received from him.
"Hello Ms. Longoria," she read aloud via Zoom on Wednesday.
"I'm currently COVID-19 positive. I'm currently in the hospital on oxygen. I'm unable to speak for a few moments before a coughing fit comes on. This virus will attack your body and squeeze your lungs to the point that you can't cry out for help."
The letter struck a nerve for Longoria whose union represents all NISD employees.
"This problem is about life and death," she said.
Which is she is calling on the city's largest school district to delay in-person classes for at least nine weeks.
The Texas Education Agency confirmed to KENS 5 that schools can stay off-campus and online without losing funding as long a local public health officials call for it.
But for school districts like Northside ISD, they worry the lack of leadership is what makes this decision difficult.
"It's a daunting question," NISD Superintendent Brian Woods said on MSNBC on Tuesday. "We really don't have a lot of local decision-making authority and that is making our teachers and parents understandably very uncomfortable."
Over email on Wednesday, an NISD spokesperson told KENS 5 they have not finalized a plan for reopening and don't exactly know when they will.
All Longoria hopes is that school officials take stories like Lopez's into consideration before putting anyone at risk.
"Please fight for us," Longoria said as she read the last sentences of Lopez's letter.
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