Clarissa Lindsey鈥檚 17-year-old daughter, Emily, wants to be a librarian so much she can picture it. Emily, who was born with a heart defect and doesn鈥檛 have an immune system, knows exactly what she wants her future to look like.
鈥淪he wants to be the one who's out there meeting with the people, helping check in books, helping people find books and find things that they're interested in,鈥� Lindsey said.
Before she started taking classes remotely during the pandemic, Emily had no plans to attend college. But since then, her grades have improved. She became one of the top 100 students in her class at Irving High School for the first time this year. She鈥檚 blossomed so much, Lindsey says she鈥檚 on the fence about sending Emily back to in-person classes in the fall.
She鈥檚 one of many families who feel that way.
Families, schools, teachers, and state legislators have tried to figure out the best way to get students physically back in school since last summer. Around that time, Gov. Greg Abbott to make reopening decisions even when they clashed with public health authorities.
A recent found that Texas school reopenings last year 鈥済radually but substantially accelerated鈥� the spread of COVID-19 in communities. Authors of the report said the study鈥檚 results 鈥渋mply鈥� the reopenings led to at least 43,000 additional COVID-19 cases and 800 additional fatalities within the first two months. For parents of school-age children, the data suggested a return to in-person work or increased activities away from the home.
In addition to health and safety concerns, not every family wants to go back. Some students thrived learning remotely, including students with disabilities, who make up more than , according to the National Center for Education Statistics. That includes students who are physically, mentally, and developmentally disabled 鈥� who all have a different way of learning that is best for them.
But when the new school year starts, parents may not have much of a choice about sending their children back to campuses. After legislation that would have funded remote learning stalled at the Texas Legislature, many school districts canceled virtual learning plans for the upcoming school year 鈥� leaving families with months to weigh limited options before the fall semester starts at many school districts in August.
Statewide remote learning dies 鈥� for now
At the end of the Texas legislative session, lawmakers were poised to pass a bill that would have funded virtual education at Texas schools and allowed districts to continue remote learning programs without sticking them with the bill, leaving the door open for families to choose the best method of learning for their children.
was designed for Texas students in general, not students with disabilities. It does not require schools to offer remote learning next year. The bill enjoyed broad support from both Republicans and Democrats and passed by wide margins on both chamber floors and in committee hearings. Expanding virtual learning options was even one of
But the legislation died at the hands of a legislative deadline to block the passing of a contentious voting bill that
鈥淚'm disappointed, but who's really disappointed is a number of school districts that have reached out to me, as well as the governor's office, in hopes that he would potentially add this as part of the call of the special session,鈥� said State Rep. Keith Bell, a Republican from Forney and the legislation鈥檚 author.
School districts can still have remote learning, but it would not be funded by the state. Without state support, school districts like Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, a northwestern district near Houston with more than 100,000 students, are
Thirty school districts 鈥� including some of the state鈥檚 largest like Cypress-Fairbanks, Houston Dallas school districts 鈥� asking the governor to consider including funding for remote learning during
Bell and state Sen. Larry Taylor, a Republican from Friendswood and the chair of the Senate Education Committee, have also asked the governor to give the legislation a second chance.
But Abbott has remained mostly silent on what will be on the table for the special session, besides re-introducing the voting bill and addressing Bell said that the governor鈥檚 office hasn鈥檛 responded to the letter, and the governor's office did not respond to The Texas Tribune鈥檚 request for comment.
indicates that in-person education is better for students. But for many disabled students, it鈥檚 been a question of safety and public health. For example, people who are immunocompromised, like Lindsey鈥檚 daughter Emily, The vaccine also hasn鈥檛 been approved for students under 12 yet, which further complicates things for students and their families.
Students with mobility issues found it easier to be at home when their Autistic students
Parents have also found there鈥檚 reasons beyond physical health concerns to keep their kids learning at home. Morenike Giwa Onaiwu鈥檚 12-year-old daughter, Legacy, is both gifted and disabled. Legacy is on the autism spectrum, has ADHD and will be a freshman next year in Fort Bend ISD, near Houston.
While studying 鈥淢acbeth鈥� remotely last year, Legacy started to show a witty side that her mother had never seen before.
鈥淚 just feel like I see more engagement because I feel like it's taking less emotional and intellectual energy to just be in the classroom setting,鈥� Giwa Onaiwu said. The family is considering doing a hybrid model in the fall.
Fort Bend ISD is currently considering their options for students interested in virtual learning, according to While some school districts like offer a hybrid learning option, many others are completely scrapping their plans. Few online schools that center Texas students exist.
Melissa Holmes, a spokesperson for the Texas Education Agency, said that existing law allows remote instruction in public schools as long as the majority of instruction is in-person.
She also mentioned the offered around the state students could attend. The schools are relatively small, but have seen an increase in enrollment in recent years. However, 86% of students enrolled in these programs attend a campus with a C rating or lower, Those ratings are given by the state.
Aubrey Turner, mother of Annabelle, Sam and Halo, is one of many parents concerned about House Bill 1468 dying in the recent legislative session. The bill would鈥檝e allowed public schools to continue offering remote learning next school year without reduced funding. Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune
Some still struggled
Not every student with disabilities thrived under remote learning.
Aubrey Turner has three kids that were remote learners last year through Irving ISD in North Texas. Her eldest son, Sam, is autistic and has been taking advanced work since he was in middle school. He also has an individual educational plan that gives additional, one-on-one support to help him do his work. During the 2020-2021 school year, he was taking 11th-grade classes as a 10th grader. In 2021-2022, he鈥檚 taking the same kinds of classes: 11th-grade classes as an 11th grader.
Many students like Sam struggled during the pandemic. to manage their children鈥檚 learning and seek out special services on their own when schools went remote. Some educators
Sam isn鈥檛 excited to go back to school, whether it鈥檚 remote or in-person.
鈥淭he best thing for me was sleeping,鈥� he said about his experience last year. 鈥淭he worst thing was that I couldn鈥檛 get anything done.鈥� This fall he will be attending high school in person, as will his two younger siblings at their middle and elementary schools.
Disability policy experts say some of the issues students with disabilities faced in the years prior to the pandemic were addressed in bills that passed during the session.
Some standouts include , which prepares educators to work with disabled children by requiring additional training, and , which establishes requirements for educators after they use restraint on a child with disabilities.
鈥淪pecial education is its own monster,鈥� Jolene Sanders-Foster, the advocacy director for Coalition of Texans With Disabilities. She鈥檚 also a mother of three, including a son who has autism. 鈥淭his was one of those weird sessions where we didn't know what to expect, and somehow we ended up being able to celebrate some of those big wins.鈥�
Experts caution that every student with disabilities is different, and each school should work with parents for what is best for the child.
Robyn Powell, a visiting assistant professor at Stetson Law School who teaches disability law, said schools have to provide individualized education plans under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
But that doesn鈥檛 always mean it is happening.
鈥淲hat the law requires and what is reality, of course, isn't always the same,鈥� Powell said.
This article originally appeared in at .