Parents' and students' response is mixed following Sunday’s the Beeville Independent School District announcement suspending “all student activities” until further notice.
The move was made because of Bee County’s rise in positive COVID-19 cases, the district said.
Kayla Branson said her seventh-grade daughter has been needing to escape from the monotony of home, and that some COVID-19 safe practices at school could be helpful.
“I think kids need to interact with each other, not be at home so much,” she said, later adding that the decision feels familiar to the way the past school year abruptly ended. “And now here we are again, beginning of this school year, and it’s happening again.”
Still, she has accepted whatever becomes of the school year, and will do her part as a parent.
“I mean if we can try to slow the spread and take precaution, and if this is what -- I guess -- their measures have to be, then so be it,” she said. “We kind of don’t have a say-so. We have to cooperate with them and just ride it out.”
Miranda Caudillo, a mother of four students -- which includes a little girl with special needs -- hopes to find out how the announcement will affect her child’s education.
She believes that Beeville ISD probably shouldn’t haven given students the hope that activities like sports would have been able to happen in the first place.
“(They should have) just kept it the way it was, and to make sure everything is clear until it was time to go back to school,” Caudillo said.
Beeville ISD officials refused to clarify or comment on the subject, but directed KRIS 6 News to the following statement.
“Due to the rise in cases of COVID-19 in Bee County, as well as a student being exposed outside of Beeville ISD (BISD), we are taking additional, precautionary measures for our students and staff," it reads. "Effective immediately, we are suspending all student activities. Our goal is to resume practices and activities after conducting contact tracing for staff and students. We will continue to update you as more information is available. We remain committed to the safety of our students and staff.”