San Angelo ISD Prepared for 'Intermittent Closures' as Classes Begin

SAN ANGELO, TX – San Angelo ISD educators have been busy creating transformational changes to ensure that all students receive a complete and inspiring education for the upcoming 2020-2021 school year, while providing a safe environment to foster their individual hopes and dreams.

The following plan also known as 'Transforming Engagement', has been reviewed, approved, and supported by our local Health Department and Center for Disease Control to ensure students can attain a quality education while doing so in a safe manner. 

Plan highlights include: 

• Instructional Option Choice: As previously announced, SAID is very proud to offer a CHOICE between two instructional options so that students, parents, and guardians may select the option that best suits their family and child’s individual needs.
• Option 1: is a traditional, in-person instructional model with new safety protocols.
• Option 2: is a fully virtual instruction model called the 'SAISD Virtual Academy'. As flexibility and adaptability is also a hallmark of this plan, you will be able to change from one option to the other at each 9-week grading period should your situation or preferences change. To further assist our families with selection between in-person instruction or the Virtual Academy, we have also created a comprehensive Course Offering List for for both instructional options for middle school and high school.

San Angelo ISD will continue to follow guidelines from the Texas Education Agency (TEA), local health authorities, city government, and the CDC as we prepare for the start of school in the 2020-2021 school year.

Preparing for the start of school during a pandemic requires San Angelo ISD faculty and staff to establish plans to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and provide the best learning opportunities for our students.

Guidelines have been developed based on information provided by the TEA as of July 7 and July 14, 2020.

SAISD anticipates minor ongoing changes to plans as the school district adjusts to any new information, TEA updates, and our local COVID-19 information prior to the first day of school scheduled for Wednesday, August 19, 2020.

Safety Protocols: 

The health and safety of our students and staff remains a guiding priority in developing this plan, and we assure you that we are continuing to follow guidelines from the Texas Education Agency (TEA), local health authorities, city government, and the CDC as we prepare to open our schools. In this document, you will find details about the safety protocols we will have in place to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 as staff and students return to our campuses. 

• Teachers/Staff: Will be required to answer a daily health screener survey prior to entry into the building, which can be accessed by scanninga QR code. Faculty and Staff are required to check their own temperatures.
• Students: Students will report any symptoms or fever to the teacher or front office. Symptomatic students will be isolated and parents will be notified to pick up the student from school if criteria met.
• Parents/Visitors: Must ensure students are not sent to campuses with any COVID-19 symptoms. Students or parents are required to report to their school nurse, BEFORE arriving at school.

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Individual Confirmed or Suspected with COVID-19:

Any individual who themselves either: (a) are lab confirmed to have Covid-19; or (b) experience symptoms of Covid-19 (listed below) must stay home throughout the infection period, and cannot return to campus until the school system screens the individual to determine any of the following conditions for campus re-entry have been met:

1. At least one day (24 hours) have passed since recovery (resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications).
2. The individual has improvement in symptoms (for example, cough, shortness of breath); and 
3. At least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared.

Instruction During Intermittent Closures: 

As highlighted in their 19 page contingent plan San Angelo ISD states they are currently developing contingency plans for any intermittent closures.

Intermittent closures (the temporary closing of a classroom, grade level, or campus) may occur for students and/or staff ata a specific school if a recommendation for temporary physical closure is determined by public health authorities or by SAISD.

In such a case, teaching and learning would move to a remote (at-home) learning model for the duration of the temporary closure before reopening for in-person instruction. For students attending in-person school, remote instruction will continue without interruption during all intermittent closures. Instruction during intermittent closures will be provided through SAISD's Learning Management System, Schoology, where students will access all learning activities and interact with teachers daily.

If these closures occur, teachers will be available for live support for students during the duration of the school day and will provide daily recordings of lessons for students. Additionally, daily assignments will be uploaded to Schoology during these times and students will need to complete these as required by teachers. Students will not necessarily need to log into their classes at a specific time of the day, but they will have to access their classes daily through Schoology and spend a specific amount of time working in their classes daily. The required amount of time spent actively working in Schoology during a closure varies based on age and grade level but will require daily logins and progress on assignments. Students must make academic progress both daily and weekly in order to be present. Grades will be taken in numerical format as they are in traditional school during any intermittent closures. 

In-Person Instruction and Remote Instruction Attendance Requirements: 

Campuses will be required to take daily attendance under all learning models and for all grade levels. This means students will have to be present for in-person learning and/or demonstrate engagement and progress in the SAISD Virtual Academy.

 Per Texas Education Code (TEC) 25.092, students must attend 90 percent of a course in order to be awarded credit for the course and or to be promoted to the next grade. This requirement remains intact during the 2020-2021 school year. Grades for all courses, whether in-person or through the Virtual Academy, will follow the SAISD grading guidelines. 

San Angelo ISD will continue to inform families and the community regularly regarding ongoing planning for School Start 2020 - 2021. The district and campuses will continue to communicate official information using email, ESchool Family Access, Swift K-12, Peachjar, school websites, mobile app, e-newsletters, and social media accounts.