In the name of school safety, Dallas Independent School District’s school board will discuss giving students the day off and allowing teachers to work remotely on Election Day.
Thursday, Dallas Independent School District’s board of trustees will discuss giving students the day off and allowing teachers to work remotely on Nov. 8 (Election Day), when more people are expected on campuses to vote. There is no vote expected until Aug. 25 at the earliest.
The proposal is to change the school day to a virtual professional development day. The reason stated on the proposal is, “due to safety concerns of campuses being used as polling sites and individuals having open access to more than half of the district campuses.”
This is something that the Richardson ISD did after the school shooting in Santa Fe High School shooting in 2018.
“I think it's reasonable. I think we have to be smart about this. Why introduce something that we don't need to introduce,” former Dallas ISD Police Chief Craig Miller said. “So, let's do what makes the most sense. And if canceling school that day makes the most sense. Because you're going to use that school as an election site, then I think you need to do that.”
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Other North Texas school districts including Garland ISD and Keller ISD will not have classes on Election Day.
“I think if we really put our money where our mouth is, and we want to make our schools as safe as they can, and keep our staff as safe as we can - to just take that fear and that anxiety away, then why wouldn't we just cancel class on that day,” Miller said.
