Texas schools will look different in August EDUCATION
As TEA maps out reopening campuses in 2020-21, Houston-area educators plan big changes
Shantell Phillips is not sure whether she and her two children will return to Humble ISD schools next year.
Phillips, an IT aide in middle and high schools, said her 17-yearold daughter and 13-year-old son learn better in actual classrooms — which closed in mid-March to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Alexis misses her friends, and Jayden wants to return to normalcy.
Is normalcy worth the risk? Phillips wonders.
“My kids really need to be in school,” Phillips said. “But for me as a parent, I’d rather them be safe than to be exposed.”
Education leaders across Houston say they are working to welcome students like Alexis and Jayden back in the fall, but if guidelines released by the Texas Education Agency for in-person summer school are any indication of what's to come, little will feel familiar.
Strict limits on class sizes and the number of students on school buses could mean children come to campus in shifts, with some days dedicated to online-only learning from home. Students may start their days in school with temperature checks and handwashing. Lunch may have to be eaten in classrooms instead of cafeterias to maintain social distancing.
The full contours of safety mandates could become clearer Tuesday, when Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath is expected to unveil state guidance to superintendents for the 2020-21 school year.
The new rules likely will look different than those issued for hosting in-person summer school, which initially included a mandate of no more than 11 students in a typical classroom and a recommendation that districts consider the use of face masks for students and staff. TEA officials relaxed the classroom size limit this week to allow 22 people in a classroom, provided each person has 45 square feet of space and desks remain 6 feet apart.
Still, many questions remain unanswered: What will daily and weekly schedules look like? What happens if a teacher or a student tests positive? What will it take for restrictions to ease? How will districts afford some potentially costly changes to meet the new safety rules.
In Spring ISD, Superintendent Rodney Watson is planning four scenarios for the upcoming school year: campuses reopening with minimal social distancing; in-person classes resuming with stringent social distancing; returning to school with rolling closures in the event of an outbreak; and hosting all learning remotely.
Spring officials overhauled their academic calendar for 2020-21 to help accommodate the potential for campus closures — an option also employed by Alief ISD and under consideration in Houston ISD. Students in Spring are scheduled to return to school on Aug. 17 and end the year on June 25, but seniors’ last day will be May 28.
The revised calendar will have four week-long “intersession breaks,” which Watson said will give the district options to make up in-person instructional time if COVID-19 forces new closures.
“It’s a safety issue,” Watson said. “What can we do with the possibility of the pandemic again in fall or next year? It’s a risk for the safety and security of students and staff.”
If classrooms reopen in August, school schedules also could look much different.
Amid the push for social distancing, many districts are considering a “hybrid model,” in which some students attend inperson classes for part of the week while remaining home for the rest.
In Spring Branch ISD, district officials are considering three hybrid scenarios: bringing in the youngest students in each school daily while limiting face-to-face instruction to one or two days for other students; hosting in-person classes for half of the students two days per week, with the other half attending two different days; and bringing half the students into school for four consecutive days, with the other half rotating in for four days the following week.
Fort Bend ISD Superintendent Charles Dupre also is examining how to provide as much in-person instruction as possible to students transitioning to new campuses, who he said need a solid foundation before they move on to higher grades. Under one scenario, those students would be on campus every day, while older students would go to campuses only two or three times a week.
Still, some in Fort Bend are worried about coming back, especially students and staff who have underlying health problems, Dupre said. Those concerns led Fort Bend to offer full-time remote instruction for those uncomfortable with returning, with administrators fearful some students might never come back.
“We had a lot of talk about home schooling, and we understand, but we can keep your child at home and still serve them, which may be more productive than many trying to do home school for the first time,” Dupre said. “No one I know is expecting that we’re going to be back to full time.”
While Houston-area districts appear likely to begin 2020-21 with a hybrid model, school leaders also should be planning for shutdowns of all campuses as well as the return of all students at various points throughout the year, said Duncan Klussmann, a clinical assistant professor at the University of Houston’s College of Education.
“I think the reality has sunk in that this isn’t just going to be a fall issue,” said Klussmann, who served as Spring Branch ISD’s superintendent from 2004 to 2015. “This could be a 2021 issue — and maybe even beyond that.”
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