ROBSTOWN, Texas — The new school year in the Coastal Bend is underway. We've shared reopening plans. We've talked to parents. However, there's still one group we haven't talked to yet: students.
Vanessa Briones is a mother of two. She didn't send her son, Nathaniel, back to in-person learning because he was born with Type 1 diabetes, which makes him extremely vulnerable to COVID-19.
"We ended up purchasing a program called 'time-for-learning,'" Briones said. "It's a home school program that has a whole curriculum set up. The only difference is that he really doesn't have an actual teacher."
Before the school year started, she set up a petition to get the attention of Governor Greg Abbott so he can fund virtual learning. This way, parents can have a safe schooling option for their kid.
"A diabetic has three times more chance of dying from this than a healthy normal person," Briones said.
Since setting up the petition, almost 5,000 people have signed it and it's not just folks from the Coastal Bend.
"All kinds of people from all over the place," said Briones. "From the top of Texas down to the bottom."
She even has support from folks outside of Texas in Oklahoma, Ohio, North Carolina and New Mexico.
She gave Nathaniel the choice between going back to school or home-schooling, but even he didn't want to take any chances.
"Those other viruses and I didn't want to get sick with it because I knew if I did, it would be worse than how it is," said Nathaniel.
The petition hasn't hit 5,000 signatures, but Briones hopes to reach that soon.
In the meantime, Nathaniel will continue his home schooling program with some peace of mind.