Schools remain closed for remainder of school year

Madeline Sanders, Editor-In-Chief • April 17, 2020

Gov. Greg Abbott announced that all Texas schools will remain closed for the 2019-2020 school year.

Texas schools will remain closed through the end of the 2019-2020 school year after Governor Greg Abbot’s press conference Friday afternoon in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Texas currently has 14,624 confirmed cases of COVID-19 while Collin County reports 505 confirmed cases, 304 of which are recovered.

Superintendent Michael Goddard released a video message shortly following Abbott’s announcement regarding what the rest of the year will look like as the district continues to utilize online learning.

“We’ve got lots of things going on,” Goddard said. “We’ve got virtual campouts, we’ve got all kinds of different things here in the future that you’ll hear more of in the next few weeks as we know that school won’t be returning in a physical sense over this school year.”

Administrators are also working out ways to honor the class of 2020.

“I do want to let you know that we have opportunities that we are working through right now to have graduation, [we have] ideas of doing it in a different way virtually,” Goddard said. “You’ll see some of those pieces for honoring our seniors and even having senior announcement day for their colleges, universities or next steps.”

According to senior class president Lily McCutcheon, the district’s closing is an obligation for safety.

“I believe that the cancellation of school is a necessity because of the liabilities schools would have to face if they held school,” McCutcheon said. “For both the students and the teachers I think the cancelation is crucial for all of our safety and to stop the spread of the virus.”

Moving forward, Abbott already cancelled STAAR testing for the year, and students taking AP exams will complete them all online in a FRQ based format. For final exam grades, third and fourth quarter grades will be averaged with the third quarter grades weighing two-thirds of the final and the fourth quarter grades weighing one-third.

About the Contributors

Madeline Sanders, Editor-In-Chief

On her fourth and final year as a member of The Red Ledger, senior Madeline Sanders is thrilled to have her second go-around as Editor-In-Chief with the lovely Liliana Hager at her side. Although she has looked forward to senior year and all of its glory (namely graduation) since she began her tenure at 250 Estates Parkway, Madeline admits that deep down she will miss her beloved home, school, friends and, of course, E103. Outside of TRL, Madeline is involved in cross-country, track, NHS, Spanish Club, Capernaum, FCA, key club and Our Living Planet. Madeline is a firm believer that there is no better medicine than driving with the windows down with music at its maximum volume–especially if she is driving with her friends and that music happens to be by Ben Rector, Harry Styles or any song off ‘The Life of Pablo.’ As the year rolls around and the clock ticks towards graduation, Madeline is prepared to make this the best year yet.

Hannah Gonzalez, Graphics Editor

Mama Mia, here we go again. As she takes her last ride in the TRL classroom, Hannah Gonzalez is ready to end this year with a bang. Gonzalez serves as a Co-Graphics editor for the third year in a row and this is her fourth year on staff. When she’s not making killer graphics, you can most likely find Gonzalez on the volleyball court, at FCA meetings, in school or going for a joy ride in the Jeep that she named “Beep.” Although TRL is life, Gonzalez also enjoys going for late-night ice cream runs, watching early morning sunrises, going to church every Sunday morning and going on an occasional lake trip. To add to her list of accomplishments, Gonzalez has won three state championships and is looking for a fourth. With her happy planner by her side, Gonzalez is looking forward to kicking procrastination to the curb as she conquers her final year as a high school student.