School is the safest place for your kids
As a parent of two children who will be attending school in the Houston Independent School District this Monday, I truly understand the concern families feel around sending their children to school. One of my own children is not old enough for the vaccine. Over the last four weeks, the delta variant has surged, causing the COVID-19 positivity rate in Harris County to spike from 6.9 percent in mid-July to 20.4 percent one month later.
It is an understandable fear. But I would not send my own children in-person this semester if I did not feel that our schools are the safest place for children and the very best learning option. And as the superintendent of HISD, I would not ask you to do this if I didn’t know the same was true for all students.
The data is clear. Schools are the safest place for students and have low levels of community spread nationwide. Additionally, as an invested parent and district leader, I have worked around the clock with my team over the past several weeks to develop a comprehensive plan that will maximize the safety and well-being of our students and staff. I highly encourage all parents and community members to review the plan at HoustonISD.org/ReadySetGo, as it addresses all measures the district is taking to keep students and staff safe.
The highlights of this plan include requiring all students and staff to wear a mask at all times while indoors and strongly encouraging them to maintain 3 feet of physical distancing as often as possible. Additionally, to encourage higher levels of vaccination rates among our employees, I am requesting that we be allowed to leverage federal COVID-19 relief funds to provide a financial incentive for every district employee who demonstrates proof of vaccination. Moreover, the district will provide regular high-touch cleaning for all campuses, and schools will be provided with additional funding to secure additional safety resources. These are just some of the many measures we are taking to ensure that students and employees are safe.
Our schools are not only the safest place for students to be day to day from a community spread perspective, but also the very best place for both learning and social and emotional development. Research makes it clear that students who participate in in-person instruction learn at far greater rates than students who participate in virtual instruction and experience more positive social and emotional development.
What’s more, we will also be able to provide our students with access to more academic, social and emotional support than ever before through over $1 billion in federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds that HISD is receiving to address COVID-related learning gaps. This will translate into additional tutors, counselors, academic resources, special education services and wraparound services for our students.
And while COVID-19 has exacerbated teacher shortages across the country, HISD has developed and is implementing a plan to leverage campus staff and deploy to classrooms over 250 certified teachers who work at the central office. This will ensure that we begin the school year with a certified teacher in every core content area in the district. With these measures, the district will begin the school year staffed with more certified teachers than perhaps ever in its history, including pre-COVID.
We want to ensure that we are also taking extra precautions for our most vulnerable students. For students too young to be vaccinated (age 11 and under) who have a compromised immune system, the district will be providing the option of participating in virtual instruction for the fall semester beginning Aug. 30. While the state will not provide funding for this instruction, the district will leverage federal relief funds to cover the costs. More details around eligibility and the process to apply for this option will be available on the district’s website on Friday at 6 p.m. ( www.houstonisd.org). Parents of eligible students will need to submit an online form and submit medical documentation to their campus by Aug. 25. If an eligible student participates in the virtual academy, their spot will be held at their regular campus.
In addition to ensuring that every student has access to a certified in-person instructor, we are also launching a virtual academy for students who need to quarantine to ensure they do not miss out on instruction. This academy will cover all core content areas across grades pre-K through 12 and will be taught by about 80 additional certified teachers being reassigned from central office.
When I soon drop off my children at the bus stop, I will do so knowing that they will be in a safe environment with high-quality teachers, full resources and meaningful services that will support their learning and social and emotional development. As your superintendent — but more importantly in my capacity as a fellow parent — I respectfully ask for your trust and urge you to join me in ensuring that your children are in school this Monday.