|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Meeting Date:
|
8/26/2021 - 6:00 PM
|
|
Category:
|
Consideration and Possible Action Item (s)
|
|
Type:
|
Action
|
|
Subject:
|
Discussion and action to publicly support resolution regarding the necessity that school boards be able to make local decisions regarding the health and safety of students and employees
|
|
District Goals:
|
Goal 1 Thriving Students Goal 2 Engaged Community Goal 3 Empowered Staff
|
|
Enclosure
|
|
|
File Attachment:
|
|
|
Summary:
|
RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF
THE CROWLEY INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT REQUESTING GOVERNOR TO ALLOW DISTRICT TO MAKE LOCAL DECISIONS REGARDING COVID-19
WHEREAS, the Crowley Independent School District Board of Trustees (Board) recognizes that officials in Tarrant County have declared an emergency regarding the potential spread of coronavirus/COVID-19 (hereafter “COVID-19”) and that the territory included in Crowley Independent School District (the “District”) is within the areas where an emergency has been declared;
WHEREAS, on March 13, 2020, the Governor of the State of Texas declared a statewide emergency as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Governor Abbott has renewed the statewide emergency every month since then up until now;
WHEREAS, the Board recognizes that COVID-19 and its variants are an unforeseen and unavoidable emergency of urgent public necessity, which requires District Officials to make decisions quickly to ensure the safety of its students and employees;
WHEREAS, Governor Greg Abbott issued Executive Orders — including Executive Orders 34, 36, and 38 — which purport to prohibit local governmental officials from making necessary decisions regarding the health of their communities;
WHEREAS, the Board of Trustees has the “exclusive power and duty to govern and oversee the management of the public schools of the district”;
WHEREAS, the Board of Trustees has the authority and obligation to make local decisions regarding the safety of its students and employees;
WHEREAS, the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 continues throughout Tarrant and Jounson counties, the state of Texas and the United States.
WHEREAS, in parts of the United States, the number of coronavirus infections are surging, creating threats to the response capacity of hospitals and healthcare workers.
WHEREAS, experimental and epidemiological data support the conclusion that wearing masks helps to reduce the spread of COVID-19;
WHEREAS, the Board of Trustees believes that having the ability to mandate masks, if the local data requires it, would further the ultimate goal of providing in-person school instruction in a safe and effective manner; and
WHEREAS, the Board of Trustees believes that based on the current circumstances in Tarrant County and in this school district, the Board believes face coverings should be mandatory in the school district’s buildings to be able to provide in-person school instruction in a safe and effective manner.
IT IS THEREFORE RESOLVED THAT the Board finds a substantial public purpose exists in protecting the health and safety of its students, staff, and community and therefore in ensuring that the school district and community are prepared to the fullest extent possible to protect the health and safety of students, staff, and community in light of COVID-19.
In furtherance of the public purposes so stated in this Resolution, the Board incorporates the above recitals into its finings and makes the following findings and requests for Governor Abbott:
1. Recognize that local school boards have the exclusive authority to determine whether face coverings should be required to ensure the safety of their students and staff; and
2. Give the Commissioner of Education the authority to allow funding for virtual instruction in the event that local school boards determine that their school districts need to provide virtual instruction to students who cannot receive in-person instruction as result of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
|
|
Budgetary Impact:
|
|
|
Recommendation:
|
Recommend approval of the Resolution of the Board of Trustees of the Crowley Independent School District Requesting The Governor to Allow the District to Make Local Decisions Regarding COVID-19 as presented.
|
|
Approvals:
|
|
Recommended By:
|
|
Signed By:
|
|
|
Anthony Kirchner - Chief Communications Officer
|
|
|
Signed By:
|
|
|
Michael McFarland - Superintendent
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|