Operations Update - Return to School and Recovery Plan for Week of February 22nd - 26th, 2021
We are still experiencing some issues, particularly with water damage or no water at all, at more than half of our campuses (18 of 25). We also know our families and staff members need time to recover personally from the continuing fallout of this week’s winter storm.
School Schedule:
Monday, February 22, 2021 – School Cancelled (including virtual)
Tuesday, February 23, 2021 – School Cancelled (including virtual)
Wednesday, February 24, 2021 – Normal School Resumes (including at Dahlstrom – see note below).
Normal school means in-person students may return to campus, virtual students will continue to learn online, transportation and child nutrition services will be operational, and staff will report to work in-person.
Waiting until Wednesday to open will allow: cleanup crews to complete their necessary tasks, water pressure to return to the water systems that serve our campuses, bottled water to arrive in the event some campuses are still under a boil water notice, food deliveries to arrive at campuses, the gasoline demand to stabilize, and teachers time to adjust lesson plans and prepare for a Wednesday reopening.
Extracurricular Activities:
Some extracurricular activities may be able to resume depending on the ability for the groups to provide potable water. Please check with your coaches or activity sponsors for each event or activity that had been scheduled.
Teachers and Staff:
While school is cancelled, all staff should remain home taking care of personal needs or working remotely if they need to or are able. Individual employees who may be needed at work will be contacted individually by supervisors. We continue to be indebted to all of our staff who have been working through the end of the week and over the weekend to help with recovery efforts.
Campuses and buildings are open for teachers or staff members who need to enter the buildings to retrieve materials, including items to help them plan for reopening on Wednesday. Anyone who reports to a campus, please exercise caution in the buildings and avoid areas where cleanup crews may be present. We believe all buildings have been stabilized in the affected areas. The campuses affected the most include: the entire Impact Center, select areas of Barton and Wallace Middle Schools, and select areas of Fuentes, Hemphill and Tom Green Elementary Schools. The district will be providing boxes and contacting teachers individually who may be needed to retrieve personal items so that cleanup crews can take necessary restorative measures.
Dahlstrom:
For Dahlstrom Middle School we have some good news. It had been closed as a precaution because of the detection of a positive case of the UK variant of COVID and the campus had been scheduled to return on Thursday of this week. However, based on contact tracing results and CDC quarantine guidelines, the students and staff can safely return a day early. The contact tracing identified one staff member and 43 students who needed to be placed on precautionary quarantine. None have reported symptoms or positive test results; and they are all now cleared from quarantine. Additionally, by Wednesday, we will have passed the 14-day window since the last known positive case of the UK variant on campus.
Board Meeting:
The School Board meeting that had been scheduled for Monday, February 22, 2021, has been postponed a week, until Monday, March 1, 2021.
Thank you again to everyone in the district and the community who is helping during this unprecedented situation. We are stronger together! Stay safe.