ECTOR COUNTY, Texas — (Editor's Note: An earlier version of this article stated ECISD would be pausing its phasing in of students due to a miscommunication. This has been clarified.)
Ector County ISD announced in its press conference Wednesday that it would be pushing back the phasing out of the hybrid learning.
The district had originally planned through Phase 7 of bringing students back to class, involving bringing hybrid learners back to class full time.
Officials say 11th and 12th graders who were still learning off campus were asked to chose between virtual and in-person learning prior to this announcement. Since the district is pausing this, those students will no longer have to chose between those options for the time being.
There is no planned date at this time on when they will proceed with bringing those students back for in-person classes. Some students in those grades have already moved back to in-person classes and those students will be allowed to stay on campus.
While they are optimistic for an early December return, ECISD says if they need to wait until January or February they will do so.
Dr. Scott Muri, ECISD's Superintendent, said in the press conference that the community doing the right thing will ensure that the children stay safe.
This comes as COVID-19 cases are increasing across the Permian Basin, with Ector County having a 35% positivity rate compared to Austin's 4% according to Dr. Rohith Saravanan with ORMC.
Ector has seen 7,804 positive cases of the virus, with 1,677 of those considered active as of Nov. 10.