Emergency Order Prohibits all Public and Private Schools in the City of Palmview from In-Person Instruction and also Approves Hazard Pay for First Responders
Texas Border Business
Palmview, Texas – At a special city council meeting held on Tuesday, July 14, 2020, Palmview Mayor Ricardo “Rick” Villarreal and the Palmview City Council acted swiftly to approve an updated Emergency Order to delay in-person instruction at all schools within the city limits for the 2020-2021 school year, including La Joya ISD, amid concerns of a recent surge in COVID-19 cases in Hidalgo County. Palmview was one of the first cities in Hidalgo County to issue such an order.
Per the updated Emergency Order, all schools shall be closed to in-person instruction effectively immediately until further notice. As part of the same order, city leaders also approved hazard pay for first responders as COVID-19 has continued to impact the community.
During public comments, Dr. Gisela Saenz, Superintendent of Schools for La Joya ISD and School Board President Esperanza “Espie” Ochoa addressed the council, asking for their support in keeping their students, teachers, and employees safe.
“The health and safety of our students, teachers, and employees will always be our first priority,” said Dr. Saenz as she addressed the council. “Guidance from TEA states than in order for schools to continue to get funding, school districts will have to open their doors and provide on-campus instruction,” she added. “The penalty for a district not following this is the loss of state aid (80% of our budget comes from this aid),” continued Saenz. “We feel the state of Texas has not effectively given us the right to operate and open schools as we see fit; therefore, the La Joya ISD School Board voted yesterday to delay on-campus instruction for three weeks,” she continued. “As of now we are asking our local leaders to come together and take action by issuing an order that prohibits in-person instruction until it is safe for our students and teachers to return to campus,” Saenz said.
With the City of Palmview issuing this order, school districts will be able to continue to provide only online instruction and continue to receive funding, while ensuring that everyone in the community remains safe.
“It has been devastating to see the surge in cases among our communities here in Hidalgo County,” said Mayor Villarreal. “By now we have all been affected by COVID-19 or know a relative, friend, or neighbor who has suffered through it,” he added. “The City of Palmview proudly supports the action of La Joya Independent School District and we stand united with all our school districts in prohibiting in-person instruction until this virus has been contained and is no longer a threat to our students and our communities,” continued Villarreal.
“As parents, educators, and city leaders we have all heard the concerns of our community and understand that right now, as we continue to experience a surge of positive cases, is not the time to send our students, our teachers, and all school staff into a dangerous and uncontrolled environment, we all want what is best for our community,” he stated.
“Public safety is of the utmost importance to us,” said Joel Garcia, City of Palmview Councilman. “Through this order, we are protecting our children, our community, and our first responders,” he added. “As one of the first cities to pass this order in the west, we are glad that Hidalgo County has joined us in safeguarding our educators and students by allowing online instruction until we get a better handle on the situation,” said Garcia.
“Our concern right now is keeping our citizens, children, and employees safe,” said Michael Leo, Palmview City Manager. “We are working with our schools, county, and local leaders to help mitigate the spread of the virus and continue to inform and educate our community on how they can help stop the spread,” he added.
“Right now, our hospitals are inundated, we have a shortage of ambulances, and the number of those infected continues to rise every day, including fatalities,” continued Leo. “We want to remind our community to do their part by wearing masks, social distancing, minimizing gatherings, washing their hands, disinfecting frequently, and urge them not to go out unless they really need to.”
Following the orders passed by the City of Palmview and other local municipalities, Hidalgo County issued similar orders this evening announcing that all public and private schools in the county will not re-open for in-campus instruction until after September 27, 2020.
