Coronavirus

Dallas ISD Could Consider Alternative Start Date

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Dallas ISD announced Thursday night that a board of trustees meeting had been called at which district administration could recommend alternative start dates.

Dallas ISD announced Thursday night that a board of trustees meeting had been called at which district administration could recommend alternative start dates.

The announcement came just hours after Dallas ISD's superintendent told MSNBC that his confidence is waning that the 2020-21 school year will start on time.

"We were planning on this for a while, so initially I thought we would be ready but I’m starting to have second thoughts about can we actually pull this off by August 17," Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Michael Hinojosa told MSNBC's Garrett Haake Thursday

Hinojosa previously expressed disappointment with the lack of guidelines from state leaders on how to reopen schools, but told NBC 5 in an interview Tuesday, he expected the district to be prepared to reopen with its own safety measures in place.

"On our own, we've gone through the plans to make sure our schools are sanitary," Hinojosa said. "If you decide to send them to school we're going to follow every protocol possible to keep them safe and continue to clean things."

As the calendar inches closer to mid-August, Dallas ISD’s superintendent tells MSNBC that his confidence is waning that the 2020-21 school year will start on time. NBC 5’s Wayne Carter reports.

His words are grimmer now, saying pushing the start of school back to September was always his backup plan but now it may be moved up to reality.

The district's comments via Twitter Thursday called it an evolving situation.

The superintendent said he's been listening to changing public opinion.

“Our parents have pivoted. More than 50% of them are now saying they don’t want to come. And here we’re hearing loud and clear from our employees, especially our teachers, that they have a lot of concerns about how we can pull this off," Hinojosa said.

In its tweets, the district stressed that "health and safety of all students and staff is always our top priority."

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