70% of students on campus for in-person learning at TISD

TYLER — Wednesday was the first day of school for Tyler ISD, much different from previous years. What was once Robert E. Lee High School is now Tyler Legacy, and the former John Tyler is now back to its original name, Tyler High. That follows school board action over the summer. Superintendent Dr. Marty Crawford said, “About 70% of our kids are actually in-person today, 30% virtual. We could not have done that with out the CARES Act. We purchased, 9,000 plus chrome books to go to students to fill the gap. We have 18,000 plus students in our school system, we already had about 9,000 of those devices in our school system. With the CARES act funding we were able to actually direct that towards purchasing those devices.”

Crawford continued, “The adults in this equation are certainly a little more nervous and anxious about our ‘return to learn’ than maybe our students are. We think that 100% of our students want to be in our school systems. But, as far as making sure that we take care of them, and make sure that they are as safe as possible, a large portion of our dollars actually went towards purchasing additional PPE equipment; everything from face shields to sanitizer, to cleaning materials, to gloves, and obviously face coverings as well.”

Also, both campuses have undergone considerable renovations, part of a bond package.