OPEN SAFELY DURING COVID

When Angleton students are first invited back to campus, the district will use a blended learning model, with A and B groups alternating days between in-person and remote learning so that the two groups will never be on school grounds at the same time. The district will prioritize students who are transitioning to a new campus first as it reopens for in-person learning, inviting students in pre-K, kindergarten, sixth grade and ninth grade back to their classrooms first. Following that, the district will begin to invite other students to return to campus. Edwards says that the district’s online learning will be flexible enough that students will be able to transfer between remote and inperson instruction as they choose without waiting for the end of a grading period.

“The plan was developed with the idea of keeping kids safe and then opening slowly with small amounts of students transitioning back into schools to allow us to do so,” Edwards says. “I think one of the things about the AISD plan is that we have released a lot of information to help our parents and our community make the best decisions they could.”

Once on-campus, students and staff will have daily temperature checks and everyone over 10 years old will be required to wear a face mask, though the district urges that all students wear masks if possible. School start and end times will be staggered to control the flow of students. Social distancing methods and physical barriers will be in place on each campus. Extracurricular activities are currently on-hold in the district, and in the case of a COVID19 outbreak, all students will return to virtual learning. Before school begins, each student in the district will receive a device, which they can use for remote or in-person learning.

“We are both nervous and excited about the upcoming school year,” Edwards says. “We are nervous because we understand the amount of flexibility we will need to have during this pandemic and the changes that will be inevitable to keep our students safe. We are excited at the same time because we believe this provides us with opportunities for growth so we can continue to provide new educational experiences for our students and prepare them for the future ahead.”

Boerne ISD

Northwest of San Antonio, Boerne ISD has an enrollment of more than 8,000 students and is led by Superintendent Thomas Price. Boerne had unique circumstances in deciding its in-person opening date, as two of its schools are located in Bexar County, where an order from the San Antonio Metropolitan Health Department stated that schools were not permitted to open before Sept. 7. The district hoped to open all schools earlier than that, and based on guidance from the Texas attorney general, the district was allowed to open all of its schools on Aug. 12, in spite of the health department’s order.

Students in the district have a choice between in-person and remote learning and will be able to make a change from one to the other at the end of each nine-week grading period. The district is emphasizing the community’s social and emotional needs during this time

BO PK- ERNE 12 SELEC IS TION D S M LEARNI UST BE RECEIVED N BY G SUN OPTIO DAY, JULY 26, NS 2020

IN-PER Five SON days per week INSTRUCTION

Standard BISD grading policy

Monitored daily attendance

Use of face coverings

Physical, social distancing expected

Enhanced safety protocols for arrival, transitions, dismissal, and visitors

Enhanced cleaning and sanitation of shared items

Modified meal service allowing for distancing

Special Program services available (Special Education, 504, Bilingual/ESL)

Social and emotional support to promote student, staff, and family wellness

May participate in extracurricular activities, following guidelines and safety measures

Option to transition to E-learning at the end of the nine-week grading period

Notice of transition must be received 2 weeks prior to end of grading period

Five BO d E ays pe RNE r week E-LEARNING

Standard BISD grading policy

Monitored daily attendance

Real time instruction with use of various forms of digital and online methods

Web camera, microphone, and electronic device required

Drive-through meal service available

Special Program services available (Special Education, 504, Bilingual/ESL)

Social and emotional support to promote student, staff, and family wellness

May participate in extracurricular activities, following guidelines and safety measures

Option to transition to In-Person learning at the end of the nine-week grading period

Notice of transition must be received 2 weeks prior to end of grading period

and has taken efforts to create learning environments where all students feel safe psychologically as well as physically. Through enhanced SEL lessons and the district’s Whole Child Counseling Team, Boerne ISD aims to support those in need.

When offered a choice of how they’d like to begin school, 78% of Boerne ISD families chose in-person learning. The district is using enhanced sanitization methods on all of its campuses and will require all students and staff to wear face masks. Parents are asked to pre-screen their children for COVID-19 symptoms each day before school.

Students who choose the Boerne e-Learning option will receive real-time instruction that includes synchronous and asynchronous lessons. During the spring and summer, teachers in the district attended professional development sessions to enhance their skills and knowledge in remote instruction. Students enrolled in e-learning will be able to participate in on-campus extracurricular activities. The district has Chromebooks available to remote learning students who meet certain requirements.

“As always, our top priority is the safety of our students, parents, teachers and staff,” says Bryan Benway, Boerne ISD’s director of communications. “We are proud to be able to give parents a choice to select which learning option is the best fit for their children, either in-person or e-learning. No matter which option parents choose, we know that they made the best decision for their family.”

Bridge City

Bridge City ISD was one of the first school districts in Texas to reopen, with in-person and virtual classes kicking off Aug. 3. Located in the Golden Triangle between Beaumont and Port Arthur, the district has an enrollment of nearly 3,000 students with Todd Lintzen in the superintendent’s office. BCISD created a three-level response protocol that administrators will use to determine if a campus needs to be shut down for cleaning, based on the number of COVID-19 cases that arise in any school. The district will follow CDC guidelines for contact tracing should any student or staff member receive a positive diagnosis.

For students who have chosen in-person learning, the district is implementing social distancing as much as possible and adjusting schedules to reduce the number of students in the hallways between classes. Students over 10 are required to wear face masks and all students are encouraged to sanitize their hands throughout the day. The district has installed fever devices at each campus, which will be used to check students’ temperatures as they arrive each day. Between each class change, teachers spray disinfectant in their classrooms and custodial staff sanitize all entrances and exits to the school on an hourly basis. At night, campuses are sprayed with disinfectant foggers, including all classrooms, restrooms and hallways.

Bridge City ISD employees received capes to recognize their commitment to safely opening schools. One teacher at each grade level has been chosen to provide remote learning for students who opt to attend school from home. Instruction for elementary students will be asynchronous, while students at the intermediate, middle and high school levels will receive synchronous instruction. Students who choose at-home learning may not participate in extracurricular activities and will not be able to switch to in-person instruction until the end of a grading period. The district has some devices available for student use, but not enough to provide to everyone, so remote-learning students are encouraged to provide their own devices if possible.

“Our district leaders created the reopening plan based on input from parent and staff surveys that addressed the needs of students and staff to provide the healthiest possible environment for our children to learn,” Lintzen says. “We focused on the needs of our students to create a positive experience during an uncertain time, and we experienced a great first day of school on Aug. 3, due to the dedication of our staff and cooperation by our students and parents.”

Denton ISD

Nearly 30,000 students attend school in North Texas’ Denton ISD, where Jamie Wilson holds the superintendency. Students in the district will attend school remotely beginning Aug. 26 with plans to reopen campuses Sept. 8. Administrators decided to push their school start date back two weeks to better prepare for social distancing on campuses and offer more online learning training to teachers.

Over the summer, the district was able to test out new protective measures for face-to-face instruction during the Jump Start program, which was designed to give students extra preparation for the school year. Masks were required on all

campuses, and hand sanitation stations were placed throughout the schools. While most families in the district have shown a preference for in-person instruction, Denton ISD will provide remote instruction for any students who choose that route through its Connected Learning program. The program will combine synchronous and asynchronous instruction. Students will be able to switch between remote and in-person learning at the end of any grading period.

The Denton ISD Board of Trustees has created a COVID-19 Employee Emergency Relief Fund that is available to school district staff who find themselves in need because of a COVID-19 diagnosis. The fund is designed to help offset medical costs if a leave of absence is required due to illness. The district has also created an online portal for families that provides social and emotional wellness resources designed to support mental health.

Humble ISD

Led by Superintendent Elizabeth Fagen, Humble ISD serves more than 40,000 students north of Houston. The district started the school year on Aug. 11 with one week of online learning for all students. Following that online kickoff, the district will welcome special education students to their respective campuses for in-person learning, in self-contained classrooms. A week later, elementary campuses will reopen to families who choose in-person learning. Middle and high school campuses in the district will also reopen for in-person learning at that time, but will use a staggered A/B schedule to promote distancing between students. The district plans to return middle schools to a regular non-grouped schedule on Oct. 12 for students who choose in-person learning.

Teachers in Humble ISD prepare for a safe school opening.

On all campuses, the district will follow the governor’s requirements of face masks for anyone over 10 and provide increased hand-washing and sanitizing stations. Teachers will reduce contact between students, and all campuses will be misted with sanitizer at the end of each day. Plexiglass dividers will be in place where distancing is a challenge, and there will be no singing in elementary music classes for the first six weeks of school. Staff will enforce distancing on playground equipment, and dismissal times will be staggered to further reduce contact between students. Staff will not perform on-campus temperature checks; instead the district requires that parents pre-screen their children for COVID19 symptoms before sending them to school each day. The district has also installed upgraded air filters and UV lights designed to kill bacteria and viruses through schools’ HVAC systems.

Humble ISD will provide devices to any students who need them, and remotelearning students are able to switch to in-person learning at any time during the school year. Over the summer, teachers in Humble received specialized training on remote instruction to better provide online lessons to students in the district. Using existing frameworks, teachers have designed improved virtual instruction that includes a minimum of three hours at the elementary level and four hours at the secondary level in asynchronous learning daily and may include virtual one-on-one or group meetings and students working both individually and collaboratively.

Midland ISD

Midland ISD serves more than 25,000 students in West Texas, with Superintendent Orlando Riddick at the helm. Its school year began Aug. 14 with four weeks of virtual learning for all students. The district has created a color-coded system, creating scenarios for what school will look like depending on the level of community spread COVID-19. When the spread is at a substantial level, all schooling will be remote.

Students will have two choices for online instruction: short-term virtual learning until campuses reopen, or long-term remote learning through the Midland ISD Online Academy. Even if the COVID-19 spread level drops to moderate or low, students will have the option to remain enrolled in the online academy. If they choose to switch to a

Midland ISD Instructional Model Options

On-campus Instruction Midland ISD Online Academy On-campus Instruction

Blended Learning Instruction

At-home Instruction Midland ISD Online Academy

At-home Instruction Midland ISD Online Academy

Characteristics

School Buildings Open

Preventative protocols in place

Families grades PreK-12 who choose to enroll in 100% online school

M-F: PreK-2, Life Skills and Self-contained Autism

M-Th:

Dyslexia and Speech therapy

Limited and Staggered Use of School Buildings

Learning occurs based on alternating schedules for students and includes remote learning

Temporary Building Closure for Confirmed COVID-19 Case

All students access instruction via Google Classroom

Families grades PreK-12 who choose to enroll in 100% online school

School Buildings Closed Until Further Notice

All students access instruction via Google Classroom

Families grades PreK-12 who choose to enroll in 100% online school

Midland ISD uses a three-stage system to determine its response to COVID-19 spread in the community.

different learning method, they may do so at the end of any six-week grading period.

The district will provide devices and Wi-Fi hotspots to students who participate in a virtual learning program, and teachers will guide lessons using Google Classroom. Instruction through the academy will be asynchronous, and students will be eligible to participate in extracurricular activities.

If COVID-19 spread in the area reaches the moderate level, the district will reopen campuses using a blended learning model. This system will split students into A and B groups who attend in-person school on alternating days, switching to remote instruction on days they are not on campus. For instance, a student might go to campus Mondays and Wednesdays, then switch to virtual schooling on Tuesdays and Thursdays. All students will participate in remote learning on Fridays. If the spread level drops to low, campuses will reopen with preventative protocols in place.

“Midland ISD has worked tirelessly this summer to craft options that support our MISD family no matter what the status of the COVID-19 pandemic in our community might be,” Riddick says. “It is absolutely critical that we keep learning going, so we are innovating in ways that are flexible, that give families greater choice, and that support students and teachers.”

Plainview ISD

Halfway between Amarillo and Lubbock, Plainview ISD is a district of more than 5,000 students, led by Superintendent H.R. Sanchez. The district began the school year Aug. 12, allowing families to choose between on-campus or remote instruction for their students.

Staff, students, and any visitors have their temperatures checked upon entering any school building, and anyone with a temperature over 100F is not allowed entry. Students in fourth grade and above are required to wear masks, while the district encourages younger students to wear masks as well. Students will be allowed to remove their face coverings when eating lunch and during P.E. class. Staff will wear masks or face shields and will sanitize high-traffic areas each night using a Clorox Total 360 machine. The district encourages social distancing whenever possible and is in the process of ordering plastic shields to use as dividers in the cafeteria. Hand sanitizing stations are also in place throughout each campus. If a student tests positive for COVID-19, she will be required to switch to remote learning and will not be allowed to return to campus until she has been symptom-free for 14 days. If a student on a campus tests positive, staff will deep clean the campus that night. The district website states that it will only close a campus in “extreme circumstances.”

Plainview has a limited number of devices for students to check out and is ordering more, but the district recommends that

students who choose remote instruction provide their own devices for now. Remote learning will be asynchronous; teachers will post lessons, including prerecorded videos and assignments, to Google Classroom. Students who choose remote learning may not participate in extracurricular activities or some handson electives and CTE courses. Students who choose to return to the classroom after participating in remote learning will be able to do so at the end of each sixweek grading period.

“Our online option is a secondary option,” Sanchez said at a recent virtual parent meeting. “We have committed quite a bit of human resources as well as material resources to ensure campuses will start clean and will continue to maintain those clean, sanitary procedures throughout the day. I believe we have the best plan that we can under the circumstances.”

Sunnyvale ISD

With just under 2,000 enrolled students, Sunnyvale ISD sits east of Dallas with Superintendent Doug Williams in the head office. The school year will begin with remote classes on Aug. 25, and starting on Sept. 8, students in the district will have three attendance choices: in-person learning, remote learning or a blended learning model. Nearly 70% of families in the district have chosen in-person or blended learning, with the remainder opting to learn from home.

The four campuses in the district will implement sanitizing stations and sneeze guards and will promote social distancing. Face masks will be required for students in fourth grade and above, while the district suggests that younger students wear face shields and will provide them in each classroom. Parents are asked to complete a screening form on the district’s website each day their children attend school, noting if their students have any COVID19 symptoms or have been exposed to someone known to have COVID-19. The district has created a five-stage response In-person learning will follow a more traditional full-day schedule, while the blended model will separate students into Blue and Gold groups. These students will attend in-person school in their groups at different times, with some students spending mornings on campus, and others coming in the afternoons. When their group isn’t on campus, these students will switch to remote learning. Using this design, the district aims to give as many students as possible in-person lessons while minimizing their potential exposure to COVID-19.

Sunnyvale’s at-home learning program will utilize Google Classroom and will provide a combination of synchronous and asynchronous learning. Students will be able to transition between in-person, blended and online learning at the end of each grading period, although the district will be flexible if families want to make a

switch earlier in the school year. All students in the district will receive devices to use for in-person, blended or at-home learning.

“We feel that Sunnyvale’s plan offers the most flexibility for our students and parents,” Williams says. “We always work to do what’s best for our community. Our plan provides something for everyone: at-home learning, an in-person option and even a blended plan, all of which will provide the best opportunity to socially distance our kids while providing in-person instruction.”

Weslaco ISD

The Rio Grande Valley is a COVID-19 hot spot, and the Hidalgo County Local Health Authority recently announced that schools in the county cannot welcome students back to campus for in-person learning until Sept. 27 at the earliest. In Weslaco ISD, which serves more than 17,000 students and is led by Superintendent Priscilla Canales, the district is working with the CDC and the Texas Department of State Health Services to plan for as safe a reopening as possible.

On Aug. 31, remote learning will begin in the district, with devices provided to all students. The district made the decision to push this start date back by a week to allow for more time to prepare for online-only instruction. This remote instruction will include synchronous and asynchronous methods. Weslaco is in a good position for implementing remote instruction, as the district has spent the last five years upgrading its technology systems and purchasing computers for all staff and students in the district.

At the end of July, the Weslaco area was hit by hurricane Hanna, and in an effort to ease the burden the combination of a hurricane and a pandemic has caused on families, the district has relaxed its uniform requirements and will be providing some school supplies to its students. n

Whether by choice or necessity, thousands of Texas school students are beginning the 2020-21 school year in a virtual setting. For many school districts, this presents multiple technical challenges, including a lack of available devices and limited internet access for some students. In response, many districts, government agencies and other organizations are working together to help provide internet access and equipment to students in need.

In Dallas ISD, the district has partnered with Gov. Abbott and the TEA to create the Operation Connectivity program. Through this now statewide program, experts will research where the student need for support is greatest and help secure devices and internet access for these communities. Last month, the TEA sent surveys and bulk order forms to superintendents to gauge each district’s need for assistance. For more information on Operation Connectivity, visit the TEA website at tea. texas.gov/coronavirus.

The state of Texas has allocated $200 million from the CARES act to help provide reliable internet access to students attending school from home. The TEA is looking closely at needs in the Rio Grande Valley, a COVID-19 hot spot where most schools will not be opening until late September at the earliest and where poor internet access is an issue for many.

The USAA Foundation recently awarded a $325,000 grant to San Antonio ISD to help distribute Wi-Fi hot spots to students in need. The district estimates that 60% of its students do not have reliable internet access in their homes, making distance learning a challenge. So far, the district has distributed 4,000 hot spots thanks to the grant.

School districts are also lending each other a hand. Canutillo ISD in El Paso is donating more than 1,500 laptops to other nearby school districts, including Fabens, San Elizario and Sierra Blanca ISDs. Earlier this year, the Canutillo ISD Board of Trustees approved a $4.8 million request to provide Apple devices to each student in the district.

In Lockhart ISD, between Austin and San Antonio, the school board voted earlier this year to help the 40% of district students who lack home internet access. The board invested in the construction of four network towers and partnered with Particle Communications to gain access to three additional towers, providing reliable internet access to the entire district. For the first year, the total set-up costs will be $447,500, with an estimated maintenance cost of $60,000 per year plus additional service fees.

In the Rio Grande Valley, the Donna ISD Board of Trustees has approved spending $3.7 million to provide wireless internet access to its students’ homes. The funds will be used for the construction of 12 communication towers by R-US Telecommunications Services in the areas most lacking Wi-Fi access. The district expects that construction on these towers will be completed by October.