Whitesboro ISD ending remote learning

WHITESBORO, Texas (KXII) - Remote learning at Whitesboro Independent School District is coming to an end this week.

Beginning Oct. 5, Whitesboro ISD will only offer in-person instruction. Exceptions will be available during a teacher or student quarantine, doctor prescribed homebound placement for medically fragile students, and school or campus closure.

The school district says at-home learnings will need to choose between going to school in-person, withdrawing to home school, enrolling in a private school, requesting a transfer to another district offering remote learning or returning to their home district.

Superintendent Ryan Harper said the work teachers have been putting into teaching remote students was “unsustainable.”

“The nature of an educator is to ‘help’ at all costs. I’ve seen it, I’ve heard it, and I’ve felt it at home, and the ‘help at all costs’ attitude, comes with too steep a price tag,” Harper said.

As of Sept. 25, there were 221 remote learners in Whitesboro ISD. The district says of the 74 online learners at the high school, 48 are failing more than one class. Of the 64 remote learners at the middle school, 46 are failing more than one class.

“With a 65 percent and 75 percent failure rate, the last five weeks have unequivocally proven that ‘remote learning’ is not educationally sound for our students,” Harper said.

As of Tuesday, Whitesboro ISD has required one student to quarantine after being in close contact with a positive COVID-19 case at school. The district says all other quarantines are from after-hour activities at home.