Alief ISD: Re-Entry Plan Update

I hope this communication finds everyone healthy and in good spirits. Or at least as good of spirits as possible. I am keenly aware that our staff and parents are waiting to hear additional information regarding our initial plans on several critical issues surrounding the 2020-21 school year. This communication is intended to provide you a “framework” of our initial Alief ISD reentry and recovery plan. I have prepared a video that has been uploaded to our Alief ISD YouTube channel to help explain the outline of our initial framework.

• In designing this plan, we solicited input and expertise from across Alief ISD, including principals and district leaders involved in our Re-Entry Task Force, thousands and thousands of parents and staff members who completed our district-wide survey this month and the Superintendent’s Teacher Advisory Committee. We are also closely reviewing and monitoring CDC and TEA health guidelines.
• We know that local incidence and transmission of COVID-19 is increasing and evolving, and that means our plans will likely evolve, too. As I mentioned, we are providing this update knowing that families and staff are eager for preliminary information on what returning to school for the 2020-21 year will look like. As always, we promise to keep all lines of communication open as our approach evolves, and more information becomes available.

• As we began crafting our plan, the top priority was and will always be the health and safety of our students and staff. For that reason, the district is committing to the following measures which will serve as the backbone of a more comprehensive safety protocol:

• Staff health-related matters will be addressed on an individual basis through our Human Resources Department and Risk Management departments. Employees with underlying health-related matters will work directly with our benefits team to ensure the employee’s health concerns are addressed in a meaningful way. There will be additional information on this in the near future.

• The Health and Safety Committee members in our Reentry Task Force are working through the logistics of each of these measures and will be adding more details and possibly additional measures in the coming weeks. We are also working on a detailed protocol for what happens if COVID-19 cases arise in one of our schools. For example, how buildings will be disinfected after a positive case, the communication protocols to parents, staff, etc. and the length of time before students and staff may return. We are waiting on state guidelines on this critical issue.

• PK-12 students will receive five full days of in-person instruction, with the health and safety protocols described above.

• Our academic model for the 2020-21 school year, will provide a unified academic framework for Alief ISD students across in-person and online learning. Our goal is to create a seamless curriculum so that all students receive rigorous, high-quality instruction and so individual campuses can quickly transition to online learning if there is a spike in cases or a need to close a campus due to a positive case.
• A significant issue we faced in the spring was the number of students that did not have access to the internet and/or the necessary device(s) to successfully benefit from a virtual teaching environment. Our Operations Committee (technology department) is working to ensure we have the necessary devices and Internet access available so that every child in Alief ISD has access to virtual learning. As a point of reference, before August 6th, Alief ISD expects to have increased our device capacity by 30,000 devices and thousands of reliable internet Wi-Fi access hot spots for families that currently have no access to the Internet.
• As mentioned, in the near future, principals will be reaching out to teachers to provide more detailed expectations and context regarding teaching assignments and the teaching environment for each teacher (in-person or virtual). We are creating a formal process for teachers with COVID-19 related health concerns to document those concerns and work with our benefits team to address each issue accordingly.

• Families, beginning Monday, June 29th, you will receive an automated call or text message asking you to select your choice for your child’s school setting/education: Would prefer your child attend school 100% in-person or 100% online. I ask that you please follow the prompts and make your selection – this information will begin providing the district much needed information regarding the desires of our families. I cannot stress enough how important it is we have as much information as possible from each parent. This will allow us to better plan for your child’s educational experience and safety precautions.
• Families, we will open an official 2020-21 “enrollment” process in early July. We will also use this process to document specific requests from each family such as technology and transportation needs. Please note that at this time, parents will commit to either in-person or online learning for your child for the school year or for an extended period of time.

Sincerely,