TISD officials provide updates on COVID-19 regulations upon returning to school

The Texarkana Independent School District is positioned to have students return to school Aug. 19, virtually or in-person, and they’re attempting to keep parents and students informed on just what that return might look like.

TISD released a statement Thursday to parents detailing the specifics of how on-campus and off-campus class sessions will work for students.

There will indeed be exactly two options for students: traditional on-campus learning and at-home remote learning.

As far as on-campus learning, the primary difference will obviously come in the hygiene and safety measures taken to protect students and faculty.

The district outlined 30 of the most-asked questions they’ve gotten from parents, with detailed responses to each.

According to these responses, face shields, reusable buff masks, gloves, sanitizer and gowns have been purchased by the district for student and faculty use.

Masks will be required for students, mainly while in-between classes or in common areas, although they are allowed to take them off once they are socially distanced

in a classroom setting. Prekindergarten students will not be required to wear masks while in the classroom.

Staff will be wearing shielded face masks, which have more protection,but allow their faces to be visible to students.

TISD will follow the Texas Education Agency’s guidelines of COVID-19 screening before entrance to the building, as well as health and safety protocols given by the Texas Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC).

The district will not be conducting daily temperature checks for students.

“According to health authorities, COVID-19 infection manifests similarly to other respiratory illness in children. Although children manifest many of the same symptoms of COVID19 infection as adults, some differences are noteworthy. According to the CDC, children may be less likely to have fever, may be less likely to present with fever as an initial symptom and may have only gastrointestinal tract symptoms.”

On-campus visitors will be limited to essential visitors only, and visitors will not be allowed to deliver food to students at lunch or breakfast.

The guidelines for meals are still subject to change, but elementary students are currently slated to have hot box lunches that will be taken to the classroom or outside locations, while the rules for Jr. high and high school students are still being considered.

Transportation for on-campus students will be available with similar precautions on buses, but the district encourages parents to drive students to school if possible.

For off-campus schooling, the district is adamant that the requirements academically, as far as grading and otherwise, will be the same for those who are on campus.

The off-campus curriculum should be completely different than it was in the Spring. A full-course load is to be expected.

Remote students will be expected to be present electronically for the same length of class periods as on-campus students and to progress at a similar rate. Just like on-campus students, they will be marked absent if not present for class and are eligible to lose credit for classes.

Whether on or off-campus, the school schedule is still scheduled to be a regular, five-day-a-week, full-day slate.

Parents are required to decide between which plan they’d prefer by July 27, with a period until August 5 where they are able to change that decision, if need-be.

In response to a question on the survey, it was stated that parents can change their

decisions between on-campus and off-campus learning at the following dates within the school year:

■ Sept. 16-18 for the second six weeks beginning September 28

■ Oct. 28-30 for the third six weeks beginning November 9

■ Dec. 10-11 for the fourth six weeks beginning January 6

■ Feb. 3-5 for the fifth six weeks beginning February 17

■ March 31-April 2 for the sixth six weeks beginning April 13

To see these questions and answers regarding TISD’s plan for the return to school in August, click the following link: https://www.txkisd.net/forcommunity/smartrestart_faq.asp