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Updated at 5:35 p.m.: Revised to include additional details from the district.
Parents reported waiting hours in line to pick up electronic devices for their children before the start of school in Mansfield ISD.
The district’s superintendent responded Sunday with a letter to parents apologizing for the long lines and announcing a revised pickup process.
“I understand your frustrations, and I want you to know that we are listening and have spent the last several days devising a new plan to make the process run more smoothly while keeping our students and staff safe,” Superintendent Kimberley Cantu said in the letter.
She said the district would assign each campus to one of five pickup sites and announced additional times families can pick up the devices.
In comments on a Mansfield ISD Facebook post from Saturday, some people reported waiting in line more than 10 hours.
Mansfield police said Saturday morning that the laptop and iPad distribution caused “major traffic delays” around Brooks Wester Middle School, the pickup site, and urged people to find different routes to avoid the area. Helicopter video from KXAS-TV (NBC5) showed the long, winding line Friday.
Amy Salas, 35, said she got in line at 12:15 p.m. Saturday to pick up iPads for her 8-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter. Salas, who also has infant twins, said her older children will be learning remotely this semester.
“Luckily, I did not take any of them with me,” Salas said Sunday.
When she got in line, she expected to wait two or three hours. When she made it to the front of the school, she figured she was close — but she was still hours away from the end of the line, she said.
At that point, “there was no turning back,” she said. She saw several cars run out of gas while they were in line, and people chatted from their cars, comparing how long ago each of them arrived, she said.
Salas finally left with the tablets about midnight.
She didn’t fault the staff members who were passing out the devices but said the process was poorly planned.
“They should have just distributed it at everybody’s schools,” Salas said. “I would have had to go to two schools, but that would have been fine with me.”
A mess in Mansfield. Parents tell us they’ve been waiting for 12 hours at a mobile device pickup. We’re hearing reports of cars running out of gas while waiting in line. @wfaa pic.twitter.com/OgCNZawPWY
— Eric Alvarez (@EricWFAA) August 9, 2020
The district’s device pickup schedule showed that Saturday was designated as the pickup day for the “Virtual Learning Academy,” the district’s remote learning option for families that are opting out of in-person learning for the fall.
The district didn’t respond to questions about what led to the backup and how many people were able to pick up devices.
Device pickup will be offered Monday through Saturday, Cantu’s letter to families said. Monday’s pickup will be only for high-schoolers; all levels can pick up devices Tuesday through Saturday.
Although online classes begin Wednesday for Mansfield ISD, the superintendent said students who haven’t picked up their devices won’t be left behind.
“As always, we will start the school year making connections and establishing processes,” Cantu wrote in the letter.
In-person schooling will begin Sept. 8 for families that haven’t opted for remote learning.
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