SUGAR LAND, Texas – Students at Fort Bend ISD went back to school for in-person instruction on Wednesday.
A senior at George Bush High School in Fort Bend ISD, Jedidah Udunna said that he was ready to go back to the classroom.
“I’m looking forward to being able to see all of my friends and being able to learn and also for the football season,” said Udunna.
“We are so excited to have our kids back to school in the actual building and not online,” said George Bush High School Principal Felicia James.
James said that administrators have been working diligently to prepare buildings and the schools to make sure the proper safety protocols are in place.
There’s still a lot of questions for some families about how the school year will unfold. On Tuesday, some parents rallied at district headquarters asking for a mask mandate and a virtual learning option for everyone.
Acting Superintendent for FBISD Diana Sayavedra said that the district will continue to comply with Gov. Greg Abbott’s order.
“We are strongly encouraging parents to send students with masks to school because it’s a primary mitigation effort,” said Sayavedra.
Because of the surge of COVID cases, the district announced on Monday that it would offer a limited online program for students in Pre-K thru the sixth grade.
“We started to see the data shift and it was important for us to think about our most vulnerable children ages 5 to 11 who don’t have an opportunity to get vaccinations. It was important for us to figure out what options we might need to provide them,” the superintendent said.
Sayavedra said that, for now, the online option will remain available to those age groups.
“There’s no bills at the state level that are being considered in terms of funding, if those things come thru there may be an opportunity for us to expand but right now we are focused on Pre-K thru sixth grade for virtual.”
The district said 2,000 students have applied for the virtual option.
