QISD outlines plans, options for restarting school

By Larry Tucker
editor@wood.cm
Posted 12/31/69

A “Zoom” teleconference held by Quitman ISD Superintendent Rhonda Turner and members of her administrative staff July 14 gave insights into the upcoming school year.

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QISD outlines plans, options for restarting school

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A “Zoom” teleconference held by Quitman ISD Superintendent Rhonda Turner and members of her administrative staff July 14 gave insights into the upcoming school year.

Turner gave vital information on choices families will have to make in the next few weeks concerning their students.

“The purpose of tonight’s meeting is to cover two major topics. The first one is going to be instructional options for the coming ’20-21 school year. The second is the health and safety aspect of returning to school,” Turner said.

The instructional year at QISD will offer two options for families.

“Our face to face instruction will have kids come to school, they will be in a classroom with a teacher all day and they have access to lunch,” she said. “Our plan is to have as close to a normal face to face instructional experience for back to school. Your child will be at school and taken care of for a normal school day. They will go to lunch, they will go to special activities, and they will be in a classroom with their peers. That’s exciting to me because I like seeing them in school.”

Turner further described what was in store for those choosing to stay home and do their education virtually.

“We will be providing you with all the things you need to have success at home and you will have some control over the time frame,” she said. “The teacher will record a lesson for the day. The student can log in and get their homework in. You will have flexibility during the day.”

She talked about some of the differences from the virtual learning last spring.

“The expectations are fairly significant from the Texas Education Agency (TEA) on what online learning must look like,” Turner said. “The requirements of our virtual home learning will mimic as close to what a regular school day will look like. The teacher, every single day, will have to interface with your student at home virtually. That can be done through a device, a cell phone or a regular computer. That interaction has to occur daily. There has to be a level of course work completed daily in order for the student to be counted in attendance. It’s going to be up to the student working at home and whoever the adult or guardian is at home who is overseeing the instruction to make sure the work gets done and it is on the school district to make sure the work gets to you to get it completed. If it is not completed, your child will be counted absent for that day.

Turner continued to explain what might happen if a student does not comply with the lessons.

“If that does occur, your student will fall under the same attendance guidelines that a student being taught face to face falls under,” she said. “Let’s say we have a student at home and they don’t log in 10 or 15 days, and if we are not getting anything from them, we would follow the normal procedures as if a student were truant and seek charges with the court. Again this is something the TEA has sent down to us as guidance that we must follow. It’s not really an option for us. Assignments will be on grade level and they will be significant. Certain electives will not be available for online learning. There are certain things like ag mechanics you just can’t teach online. If a student chooses one of those electives they will have to come to school face to face all day. We will have electives for them, it just might not be what they were wanting.”

Turner did say that students who want to be a part of extracurricular activities including sports and band will have to attend face to face classes in order to participate.

Assistant Superintendent Chris Mason informed the listeners of some of the new safety and health protocols.

“A big change for a lot of folks will be no visitors,” he said. “It will be only as necessary so if you have a teacher’s meeting and you are uncomfortable with that, we will provide virtual meetings,” Mason said. “If we have the potential for possibly having positive cases (for COVID-19) those folks are going to be sent home immediately. They are going to be removed from other folks and we will try our very best to isolate them while we wait for them to be picked up.”

Mason continued with other cautions, “Teachers will play a huge role for us and help really practicing hand-washing and hygiene. They are going to have a lot more hand-sanitizing stations and our teachers will be provided hand wipes and hand sanitizer. Masks will be provided for P.E. We have two different types we will be able to provide. Social distance is not easily enforceable and we will look forward to having those masks for students and staff. We will be limiting our students getting together if it is not lunch and not in their classroom.”

In responding to a positive case, he said, “If a student is showing signs, or a teacher showing signs, we will treat it like a positive case. Individuals including teachers and staff or visitors are confirmed or experiencing symptoms are going to go home and stay home for the infection period or until they can meet a re-entry requirement. We are very clear in the procedures and steps we have in place. We will keep the student’s safe and those around them safe.” 

Concerning masks, Turner said, “For students over the age of 10, it is a mandate from the governor they are ordered to wear masks. We feel like when kids are in the hallways passing each other, that is a good time to wear a mask. We have measured every single classroom and we know how many desks we can get in there. One room can accommodate 16, another 18 students and this one 22. The desks will be pulled apart as much as they can so there is about six feet between the desks. Once the kids are in their classroom and in their seats there is no reason for them to have a face-covering on. If a teacher is giving direct instruction in front of the classroom, if she’s always more than six feet away and she does not have to have that mask on. If she is walking in between the aisles checking kid’s work she’s going to need to put her mask on.”

Turner added the district is planning on all seniors being a part of graduation whether they attend face to face classes or virtual classes. She emphasized that the first nine-weeks there will be no visitors allowed, and volunteers will hopefully be able to come back after that time too.