Well, that was short lived. EPISD has decided to postpone the transition to in-person schooling due to the recent spike in positive COVID-19 cases. EPISD just sent out an email explaining the postponement. The rate of positive cases in El Paso over the past week reached 8%. The World Health Organization's guidelines states that it is safest to reopen when the positive rate is at 5% or lower for 14 straight days. The email states:

EPISD used the 5 percent benchmark when it applied for and received a waiver from the Texas Education Agency to delay in-person instruction until Oct. 19. We had planned to begin phasing in students sooner. However, El Paso County was only able to maintain the 5 percent rate for five consecutive days. Unfortunately, we are seeing a rise in cases again.

The email goes on to explain that students will be on intercession from October 12 through 16th. So what does this all mean for parents who were looking to get their students back in school:

As such, the District has developed the following schedule for on-campus learning for families who chose that option:

  • 19: Identified student populations in special-education, Pre-k through second grade and sixth grade (five days a week); and ninth grade (assigned hybrid/staggered days).
  • 26: All remaining students.

As for the staff:

Teachers and other employees in the District will begin reporting for on-campus safety training and classroom setup in phases, depending on their assignment and duties, starting on Oct. 7. All employees in the District will return to work in person by Oct. 19.

So the plan is still to provide in-person schooling but that has been postponed because of the recent spike in cases. And the recent spike isn't all that surprising because there are some people that still just don't get it. I wrote an article about an alternative for trick or treating this year and when we posted it to social media, it shows how ignorant people are to the whole situation.

So we go to a store grab the same stuff anyone else already grabbed and put back. We use the same money. The same pin pad . We handle the same doors. Yet we can't have a normal Halloween?

Um, no actually. The whole point of everything we do now is to lower the chance of coming into contact with COVID-19. You should be limiting the amount you're going out and touching things. And we need to go to stores to get food and supplies. We don't NEED to go trick or treating. So this is an alternative. Plus if you grab a product off a store shelf, the odds of that product having been touched by hundreds of other people within the past half hour is super low. When you're trick or treating, everyone is using the same door knob and getting candy out of the same bowl.

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