Survey: About 70% of AISD families said they’d send children physically back to school

AUSTIN (KXAN) — An survey of AISD families showed most families — about 70% — said they planned to send their children physically back to school when the option became available.

A total of 9,124, or 34.75%, said they would send their children back with conditions, while 34.44%, or 9,041, said they would send them back without any conditions. Families indicated they wanted safety guidelines and recommendations from the CDC, local government and the Texas Education Agency. Austin ISD has outlined a number of safety guidelines for its campuses, including temperature checks, having students wear masks, rearranging spaces to maintain social distancing and providing hand washing and hand sanitizer options.

Just over 30%, or 8,090, said they did not plan to send their child to school. Many said the reason was a fear of children or other family members getting COVID-19, a worry that schools were opening too early or a concern that their child would not be able to consistently follow safety guidelines like wearing masks or staying six feet apart.

The survey was sent to families and took place between June 24 and July 13. Families responded to the survey for each child they had enrolled in the district last year, excluding graduated seniors. The district received responses on behalf of 26,255 students. The district has a total of 75,592 students.

The survey also asked parents how they planned to get their children to school. About 62% said they would be picked up or dropped off, 20% said their child would ride the bus, 12% said the child would walk or ride their bike and 6% would drive themselves to school.