Should campuses reopen? Families are split
Comfort level with in-person classes is cut across demographic, political lines
After a year of headaches, fainting spells and nosebleeds they think were caused by a black mold infestation, Christina Partida’s family has returned to normal health in a new, cleaner apartment — a recovery they do not want to risk by returning their children to Aldine ISD schools amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“Why am I going to put my children back in an environment where they could get sick?” the mother of three said.
Twelve miles to the east, in neighboring Humble ISD, Melody O’Dell wants her third-grade daughter Cashlee back in Summerwood Elementary School with her classmates after a sluggish, lonely summer.
“If I don’t encourage her to get up and move around, she doesn’t do anything,” O’Dell said. “I’m worried she’s feeling hopeless, that this has just become her norm.”
As the new school year approaches, families across Greater Houston are agonizing over whether to send their children back to campuses in the coming weeks, a decision fraught with personal and public health implications amid the widespread COVID-19 outbreak throughout the region.
In recent weeks, as public school districts surveyed families about their preferences for in-person or online classes, the level of comfort with face-to-face instruction appears to cut largely across the demo
graphic and political lines that divide the highly diverse Houston region.
In five districts serving large numbers of lower-income, Black, Latino and Democrat-leaning families, about 25 percent to 35 percent are choosing in-person classes. The districts include Aldine, Sheldon and Spring ISDs, as well as the KIPP Texas Public Schools and YES Prep Public Schools charter networks.
By contrast, about 55 percent to 70 percent of families in Clear Creek, Conroe, Humble and Spring Branch ISDs want to send their children to campuses to start the school year. All four districts are home to more affluent, white and Republican-leaning parents.
The results illuminate the level of fear about COVID-19 that remains in many communities. They also split some districts where most families want schools reopened but education leaders are wary of spurning advice from local health authorities.
Children rarely show severe symptoms caused by COVID-19, though health experts warn it is too soon to know the extent of any long-term damage caused by the disease. People under the age of 20 account for nearly 30 percent of Texas’ population but represent 6 percent of confirmed cases investigated by health officials, according to the Department of State Health Services. About 10 children in Texas have died from COVID-19 complications.
Researchers largely agree, however, that kids still catch and spread the virus, albeit likely at lower rates than adults.
“When you think about the moment we’re in this summer, there is no objective truth in that your own risk of catching the coronavirus is a very personal calculation,” said Joshua Blank, research director for the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, who has polled extensively about attitudes on COVID-19. “It’s made up of how prevalent the virus is in your community, your own health risks, the amount of exposure you’re willing to tolerate.”
While lower-income, Black and Latino families appear more likely to keep their children home from school, educators and researchers believe their children will suffer the most from missing out on in-person classes.
“I’m quite concerned that this could exacerbate the gaps we already see by quite a bit,” said Ruth López Turley, director of the Houston Education Research Consortium housed at Rice University. “Even if everything were to be back to normal this fall, I’d already be concerned because of the time away from school since March.”
The district survey data represents a small percentage of families in Greater Houston. Some of the region’s largest districts have not yet requested back-to-school commitments; others have not publicly released data on family choices to date.
Many districts have pushed their school start dates into September or announced plans to remain in virtual classes to begin their academic year. Health officials in Harris County have recommended schools remain online-only through September, while Montgomery County health authorities have targeted Sept. 8 as the earliest day for oncampus instruction.
‘A domino effect’
Partida lives with her husband, three children and godson in an apartment complex that straddles two ZIP codes — 77039 and 77093 — predominantly home to Latino residents in northern Harris County.
Over the past several weeks, Partida has heard about several relatives and nearby friends testing positive for COVID-19, including a cousin’s in-law who died.
For Partida, the rate of the coronavirus’ spread in her neighborhood means her children — who will enter the third, eighth and 10th grades this year — and a high school sophomore godson will stay home from school for now.
“We’re a heavily populated people, and if one gets the virus, it’s a domino effect,” Partida said.
For families in Greater Houston’s most disadvantaged communities, decisions about sending children back into classrooms carry a greater burden.
Black and Latino Texans account for 53 percent of the state’s population, but they represent 65 percent of confirmed cases and 63 percent of deaths, according to Department of State Health Services data.
Public health experts reason they are more likely to live in high-density areas, work in jobs that require more face-to-face interaction and suffer from more preexisting health issues that increase the risk of COVID-19 complications.
In addition, the threat of child-to-adult coronavirus transmission is particularly heightened for multigenerational families living together. About 17 percent of Latino seniors and 11 percent of Black seniors live with school-age children, compared with 4 percent of white seniors, according to estimates by the Kaiser Family Foundation using Census Bureau data.
“The majority of our parents are just nervous,” said Jane Ocanas, principal of Aldine’s Eisenhower Ninth Grade School, where two-thirds of families have chosen to remain online-only to start the year. “They’ve had members of their family who have gotten sick, and so they know how it can really turn for the worse.”
Multiple polls show Black and Latino families perceive the virus as a greater threat than white families. Asked their level of concern about coronavirus community spread in a late June poll by the Texas Politics Project, about 59 percent of Black respondents and 55 percent of Latino respondents were “extremely concerned” or “very concerned,” compared with 41 percent of white respondents.
Tiara Williams, the mother of two children entering eighth grade and ninth grade in Aldine, said she fears district administrators cannot adequately prevent coronavirus spread in schools, putting her at potentially greater risk of contracting the disease.
“Yes, you can have hand sanitizer and stuff in hallways, but how are you going to keep them 6 feet apart in a room of 20 people?” Williams said. “To me, there’s no logic there. I don’t see it.”
A different fear
As the O’Dells weighed their family situation — a healthy daughter, two young and fit parents, a home in a corner of Harris County with less COVID-19 — they quickly determined Cashlee should return to school as soon as possible.
“We know that kids can get the coronavirus, but, luckily, they seem to have very mild cases or asymptomatic ones,” O’Dell said. “We’re pretty hopeful that if she does catch it, it will be pretty mild and she’ll be able to get over it easily. We’re pretty confident health-wise, and honestly it’s the same for us.”
For many families in districts with high return-to-campus rates, the harm of keeping their children in virtual classes is greater than the potential cost of additional COVID-19 spread.
Before deciding whether to send their two kids back to Clear Creek ISD schools, Christine Parizo and her husband read studies about the coronavirus, as well as guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics. The two organizations generally advocate for the reopening of schools but warn campuses may be better off closed in areas with widespread outbreaks.
“I don’t think there’s a huge risk to my children,” Parizo said of her fourth- and eighth-graders. “Ever since the pandemic broke out, I’ve been telling them, ‘Wash your hands. Don’t touch your face.’ I’m much more worried about the effects to their emotional well-being.”
In districts with higher wantto-return rates, school boards and administrators have sought to balance the competing interests of parents, staff members, state officials and local health experts.
In Humble ISD, 65 percent of families signaled their desire for in-person classes to start the year, with the majority choosing their preference before Harris County health officials issued their recommendations. School board members voted Monday to delay the beginning of in-person classes by one week, to Aug. 17, and gradually bring back students.
In Spring Branch, district leaders also pushed their school start date back one week, to Aug. 24, but opted to remain online-only for the first two weeks of classes. About 55 percent of families chose in-person classes to begin the year.
“We’ll reevaluate as we get guidance and direction from the medical professionals at the county,” Spring Branch ISD Superintendent Jennifer Blaine said. “I feel really strongly that I’m not a medical doctor, and I do not feel comfortable making medical decisions.
“The majority of our parents are just nervous. They’ve had members of their family who have gotten sick, and so they know how it can really turn for the worse.” Jane Ocanas, principal of Aldine’s Eisenhower Ninth Grade School