Houston ISD's tardy policies had nothing to do with the death of the 15-year-old Milby High School sophomore who was hit by a train near the campus, Alex Elizondo, Chief of Public Affairs and Communication said Tuesday, 'The attendance policy at the school is that students are encouraged to be at school...
Houston ISD's tardy policies had nothing to do with the death of the 15-year-old Milby High School sophomore who was hit by a train near the campus, Alex Elizondo, Chief of Public Affairs and Communication said Tuesday, "The attendance policy at the school is that students are encouraged to be at school every day and be on time for school, however, big, big, big however, they should not do anything that jeopardizes their personal safety to get there," Elizondo said in a special Zoom meeting with Houston media Tuesday afternoon.
She began by extending sympathies to the family of the boy on behalf of HISD. Although she did not name him, a"The principal knows that this train track is a problem for kids getting to school on time so if the train is running during school time, all tardies are waived and do not count against students or teachers if a train prevents them getting them to school on time." Elizondo rejected the idea that Principal Ruth Peña is under pressure to make sure all students get to school on time. A change.org petition has been started to remove Peña as principal. "We would never want a student to cross the train track at any place that is not a designated crossing area. The principal has police officers that she pays overtime to that come to school early and monitor the area around school."The investigation into the death is being handled by the Houston Police Department and Union Pacific, not Houston ISD, Elizondo said. She did say, however, that Sergio did not cross at the designated crossing area. She said where he attempted to cross was in a grassy area apart from the crossing and not one HISD would monitor. "This is a true tragedy. None of us know why this student crossed where he did and what was going through his head. If he saw the train, if he didn't," Elizondo said. "Witnesses say he tripped. That is not something I can speak to. What I can speak to is that it is HISD's priority to keep students safe and we want to work in partnership with state and federal agencies to make sure that train traffic and schedules are thoughtful and provide the least risk to students as possible. "We are providing support to that student's family," Elizondo said. "There were a couple of students that witnessed the tragedy and so they are are being provided additional counseling and crisis support for as long as they need crisis support from HISD." Published photos following the accident showed the an assistant principal directing students across the train track while the train was stationary. Elizondo said the assistant principal was directed to do this while the train was stopped and is not part of their normal procedure. "That was cleared by Union Pacific and we wanted to get those kids away from the scene and at school so they could have breakfast, get counseling support, debrief their experience and be supported." Elizondo said any parents who feel their child is not safe getting to school can request bus service even if it's not part of the area it regularly extends transportation benefits to — and HISD will provide it. "HISD does not set train schedules. Union Pacific runs their trains on their timetables. This has been a longstanding issue in Southeast Houston that there are a lot of train tracks. There ae a lot of schools in Houston that have train tracks close to schools." , it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Houston, and we'd like to keep it that way. With local media under siege, it's more important than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our"I Support" program, allowing us to keep offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food and culture with no paywalls.The Houston Press may earn a portion of sales from products & services purchased through links on our site from our affiliate partners. ©2024 Houston Press, LP. All rights reserved.
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