Many know by now that a total solar eclipse is happening on April 8 and that hundreds of thousands of tourists are expected to fill our roadways in Central Texas.
Eclipses aren’t too uncommon, but this one is unique because it goes across so much of the US at one time and causes complete darkness in the middle of the day. This solar eclipse is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and many will be coming to Austin from all over the United States to witness it.
An eclipse like this won’t happen again over the continental United States for 20 years, and Austin won’t be in the pathway of the total blackout for another 319 years. Many have bought glasses, similar to the ones from the crescent eclipse in 2017, to see the event. Many school districts in our area have canceled classes for the event, saying they want students to enjoy the moment. Multiple districts in Texas have already closed down, including Del Valle, Dripping Springs, Hays, Lago Vista, Lake Travis, and Manor.
Many might also know that Austin ISD is one of the few districts that hasn’t closed, despite many districts declaring an emergency because of how many people will be coming into Austin. Austin officials claimed it could be anywhere from 200,000 to 1 million people.
Austin ISD is notorious among students for not closing school when it would not only be safer, but also easier for parents, students, and staff.
“We’ve worked closely with city and county officials to ensure keeping our schools open will not have an adverse impact on the region,” AISD officials said in an email about its decision to stay open.
However, I am doubtful that they have worked with Austin officials, and even if they have, I don’t think it would lessen the number of people driving on the roads.
“Ultimately, we know the safest place for our students is our schools. Without our resources, thousands of students could miss out on this event,” AISD officials also said.
While schools would be safe, you have to consider that you still have to get to school in intense traffic, which would be the furthest thing from safe. Austin is known for having frequent traffic problems and motor accidents, and Slaughter Lane — one of our main roads leading to Akins — has been experiencing construction for a long time. With the construction still unfinished, on top of having a sharp increase in the number of people in town, huge traffic problems are likely to be encountered.
We should cancel school that day and there are plenty of reasons to do so. The traffic will likely be horrendous at a time when students will be stuck on school busses, and and no one will be able to get to school or home. However, Austin ISD has refused to cancel, which to me makes no sense because there would probably be many people who would stay home anyway or there would be many arriving late to class.
Another thing to note is that with many more people, it means many more accidents. Driving could be more dangerous than normal which would pose risks to parents, students, teachers, and those going to work. The previously mentioned 200,000 to 1 million people could also pose possible food or water shortages since people might panic buying from stores.
One thing that is quite perplexing about canceling is that we have Wednesday off that week. April 10 is a staff workday and a student holiday. I’m curious why they couldn’t just move the off day to Monday so that everyone could be safe, happy, and spend the day with their families. It’s also weird as there will be STAAR testing that week so in addition to having an eclipse there will be an off day on Wednesday followed by testing.
Local meteorologists have also forecasted that Monday has a high chance of rain and cloud coverage. Rain on the Austin roads is a recipe for disaster and the addition of 200,000 to 1 million people is certain to raise safety concerns.
Austin ISD tends not to close schools even when students, parents, and teachers beg them to. In January there were two days when it was icy or the roads were unsafe to drive on and district officials refused to close the schools, which is simply dangerous. I wouldn’t want to drive in unsafe conditions with a lot of other people.
One thing that is annoying and doesn’t make sense is how Austin ISD won’t cancel but every other school district in our area will cancel. Travis, Manor, Del Valle, and a lot more will cancel even if the chance of danger is low. They will also announce it usually in a reasonable time to plan for it. Austin ISD on the other hand typically waits until the last minute to announce delays or cancellations. It’s been like that for as long as I can remember. They will say that they will announce it before 5 p.m., waiting until the literal last minute. Then there are times when AISD will announce it at 5 a.m. There was a time when I was driving to my middle school and when we were about to pull into the parking lot they said it was canceled due to cold weather and power outage concerns. They did cancel but it was literally as I was pulling into the parking lot.
Regardless of whether or not you agree or disagree with my points, many would agree that AISD often makes questionable decisions. Refusing to close down on the day of the eclipse even though we have Wednesday off and could move the date is odd along with the fact that STAAR testing is going on that week. In addition to the many other districts closing it’s very annoying and causes issues with many people’s schedules as well as posing safety concerns.
