The dominoes just keep falling. On Thursday afternoon, Dallas County became the latest county to announce its back-to-school plans as Dr. Philip Huang, the Local Health Authority for the city of Dallas and Dallas County, ordered that schools should not reopen for face-to-face learning or extracurricular activities until after September 8th.
Dr. Huang, the Health Authority for Dallas County & City, issued an Order delaying in-person instruction for public and private schools until Sept. 8.
“Given the recent numbers of #COVID cases, we must do what is best for the safety of our school children and school employees.” pic.twitter.com/RWbHzS4EI4
— Dallas County HHS (@DCHHS) July 16, 2020
The order states that “all school sponsored events and activities, including but not limited to clubs, sports, fairs, exhibitions, academic and/or athletic competitions, shall not take place until school systems resume on-campus instruction.”
The order comes as COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Dallas County with 1,027 more positive cases reported on Thursday. This brings the total in Dallas County to 37,996 positive cases and 501 deaths.
This order impacts Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD, Cedar Hill ISD, Coppell ISD, Dallas ISD, DeSoto ISD, Duncanville ISD, Garland ISD, Grand Prairie ISD, Highland Park ISD, Irving ISD, Lancaster ISD, Mesquite ISD, Richardson ISD, and Sunnyvale ISD, while Ferris ISD and Grapevine-Colleyville ISD also have small portions of their districts in Dallas County, so it is unclear what impact this order will have on those school districts.
This is another big blow for the hopes of high school football season starting on time as this order affects over 50 UIL football teams.
September 7th falls between weeks two and three of the football season, and this is not counting the five day acclimatization period or the six days of contact football required before intersquad scrimmages can take place. This means these schools are looking at a delayed season at best.
Dallas County joins Travis County, El Paso County, and Houston ISD among others as school districts and counties that have pushed their reopening until at least Labor Day. Houston ISD will not begin in person learning until at least October 19th.
All eyes now will turn to the UIL regarding an announcement on the Texas high school football season as the reopening of schools continued to be delayed and the fate of Texas high school football hangs in the balance.
