East Central Texas News

When the Mart Independent School District (ISD) offered parents the option to return their children to school for in-class learning on Aug. 17, approximately 90% of high school students and 75% of elementary school students accepted the offer, according to school board president Pete Rowe.

“One of the overriding factors for us in opening our schools back up was the fact that a high percentage of our students are on the food plan,” Rowe told the East Central Texas News. “They get a meal in the morning and a meal for lunch. Many of our children don't eat well or, sometimes, not at all without the school providing meals. Since March, when the schools closed, my superintendent, Betsy Burnett, and a couple of other staff delivered 150 to 175 meals every day to those students at home.”

Mart ISD is among several Texas school districts that decided to open brick-and-mortar classroom learning this fall even as COVID-19 continues to pose a threat throughout the U.S and globally.

“We have a lot of single moms and single dads that work so when they drop their children off in the morning, they know they're going to be taken care of until they pick them up at 5 o’clock,” Rowe said in an interview. “We’ve even had to stay longer to wait on parents to pick up the kids and we do that. It gives parents security in knowing that their kids are in a good place.”

Located in Waco within McLennan County, the first day of school started with temperature monitoring as well as fewer bus routes to accommodate social distancing protocols, as previously reported by KWTX.

“Since we've started school, which is 10 days now, we've had two cases of COVID,” Rowe said. “We quarantined one class because a young man came to school with COVID. We caught it with the temperature checks and we have our protocol and plan in place.”

The 516 students attending school for live learning within the Mart ISD are complying with the federal rules and regulations intended to keep students free of the coronavirus and to slow the spread, according to Rowe

“They will be sent home if they don’t wear a mask,” he said.

Even though Texas has experienced a surge in coronavirus cases in recent months, the Mart ISD was not deterred.

“If parents want their child at school, they can leave them at school and if they want to opt out, they can opt out,” Rowe said. “Either way, we're going to provide quality education to that child whether they are in school or whether they are learning online. We've got a plan and are prepared for both.”

A total of 621,667 cases of coronavirus were reported statewide as of Sept. 3 with 12,870 fatalities, according to the Texas Department of State Health. In McLennan County, there have been 6,454 cases reported and more than 80 deaths.

“The board is unanimous in its decision to reopen and we plan to stay open as long as we can,” Rowe said. “There may come a time when we have to reconsider our decision, but for now we are sticking with it.”