Nortex Times

When the Wichita Falls ISD superintendent offered parents the option for their children to attend class virtually, or return to class in person, 68% opted for live learning and 32% chose remote instruction, according to school officials.

“Lots of our parents have to go to work and could not be at a home with their young children,” said Michael Kuhrt, superintendent of Wichita Falls ISD. “We know that about 2,000 of our 4,000 students do not have internet in their homes and so, therefore, it would not be an option for them to be at home and do instruction. So, it was important for us to have school for our families so that they could go back to doing life.” 

After several weeks developing a return-to-learn plan and submitting it to the Texas Education Agency (TEA), Wichita Falls ISD chose a hybrid model of opening brick-and-mortar classroom learning this fall. The first day back for students was Aug. 20. Teachers reported to work on Aug. 13.

Wichita Falls ISD Superintendent Michael Kuhrt | Wichita Falls ISD Michael Kuhrt

The most difficult adjustment was following social distancing guidelines, according to Kuhrt. 

“On our campuses where we have 80% of our students back, there's no way we can socially distance those children,” Kuhrt told Nortex Times. “In a class of 22 students, there might be 18 students present and there's no way to put 6 feet apart in between everyone on our campuses. Where we have 50% of our students back, there's a big chance that they're 6 feet apart all day long. It was establishing those routines that was the hardest part and becoming comfortable with that.”

In addition to 450 stand-up hand sanitizers at every entrance, by bathrooms, gyms and classrooms, Kuhrt said Wichita Falls ISD teachers are equipped with disinfectant, hydrogen peroxide spray squirt bottles and paper towels to wipe down desks between classes. 

“We encourage students to clean desks, coming in or going out, either one, and they've done a real good job with that,” said Kuhrt in an interview. “It’s worked for us and our custodial staff disinfects every night. They spray all the bathrooms, all the high touch areas in the building and all the desks and places like that.”

Texas has experienced a surge in COVID-19 cases in recent months. A total of 649,809 cases were reported as of Sept. 11 with 13,853 deaths, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Wichita County reported 1,439 cases with 18 fatalities.

But the Wichita Falls ISD has not been deterred. The 9,400 students attending class on-site are complying with the federal rules and regulations intended to keep them free of the coronavirus, according to Kuhrt.

“Since we started school, I think we've had 12 cases of students with the virus, and of those 12, only one of them involved another student and that’s because they're best friends,” he said. “They don't wear their masks when they eat lunch together, they ride home together and they're just always together. So, one of them was positive and the other one was considered a close contact. Within a week, he was positive too. Of the other 10 cases, not one of the close contacts has come back with a positive because they're all wearing masks and our health department considers them low risk.”