HISD schools to remain closed 2 more days
Houston Independent School District will remain closed Monday and Tuesday and hold online-only classes for the last three days of the next school week — a plan that few neighboring districts are expected to follow as education leaders navigate the fallout from freezing temperatures that rocked the region’s power and water supplies.
As the impact of this week’s winter storm comes into clearer focus, education leaders are grappling with how quickly they can resume in-person classes already cut short this year by the coronavirus pandemic.
In announcing the cancellation of in-person classes all next week, HISD Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan said Friday that lingering uncertainty about building safety, ongoing concerns with the district’s water supply and reports of staff members facing major issues with water-damaged homes led to her call.
“I have to make sure our staff are ready to receive and take care of students,” Lathan said in an interview. “There are still a lot of unknowns, but also, parents need to know the plan. For me, that’s why I went ahead and made that announcement.”
Aldine ISD, the region’s fifthlargest district, announced Friday that it would follow the same schedule as HISD.
In several other districts, however, superintendents expressed optimism Friday that they could resume in-person instruction as early as Monday.
While water supply concerns weighed on the minds of school leaders — large swaths of Houston, which provides water to nearly all of HISD, and parts of outlying areas remain under boil-water advisories — some superintendents said they could manage any remaining complications.
In Klein ISD, the metro area’s seventh-largest district, Superintendent Jenny McGown said district officials are prepared to hold
in-person classes even if some campuses have boilwater advisories in effect. School employees will use bottled water kept in reserves and water stored in large tanks to maintain safe conditions.
“We will be open on Monday,” McGown said. “All of our campuses will be fully safe and operational, and so we are extremely grateful we’re in that situation. We know a lot of our neighbors haven’t been as lucky.”
Many boil-water advisories are expected to lift in the next few days, with Mayor Sylvester Turner declaring that he expects the city’s will expire no later than Monday. Schools could use unboiled water to flush toilets and run sinks, but district employees would need to boil water for drinking and food preparation.
“The water situation and water pressure, that’s going to play a major factor” in reopening decisions, said Travis Stanford, Spring Branch ISD’s associate superintendent of operations. His district, which has many campuses receiving city water, has not yet announced plans for Monday.
Although many district leaders reported numerous leaks and burst pipes, many said they were fortunate to avoid major damage that would knock campuses out of commission next week.
In Katy ISD, the region’s third-largest district, Superintendent Ken Gregorski said Friday that he expected “all campuses will be up and running for Monday’s return to school and work” even after about three-quarters of Katy ISD’s campuses sustained some water damage.
Humble ISD Superintendent Elizabeth Fagen, who leads the area’s ninth-largest district, said about 40 classrooms in Humble High School were soaked when sprinklers malfunctioned,
while other campuses needed minor repairs. Fagen said all fixes should be done in a matter of days, with all schools open for in-person classes Monday.
“We just have a lot of small issues,” Fagen said. “I’m sure everybody does.”
Lathan said all of HISD’s 280-plus buildings and campuses appear to have avoided major damage, though staff members continue to spot new issues.
A smattering of Houstonarea campuses likely will stay closed next week because of extensive water damage, necessitating online-only classes that have become commonplace during the pandemic.
Tomball ISD Superintendent Martha Salazar-Zamora said the district’s largest campus, Tomball Memorial High School, will remain temporarily shuttered after a broken sprinkler system dumped about 10,000 gallons of water throughout the building.
“We had building damage, a loss of print materials, a loss of technology,” Salazar-Zamora said. “We’re communicating and making plans for how we handle all our campuses, because each campus is a little different.”
In Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, the region’s second-largest district, Chief Operations Officer Roy Sprague said crews will work all weekend to complete repairs at more than 60 buildings damaged by water, including three with flooding issues.
Three inches of water covered Cy-Fair ISD’s Swenke Elementary School, located near U.S. 290 and the Grand Parkway, after busted pipes poured water on the school’s floors. One high school’s orchestra pit filled with 3 feet of water, which spilled into a surrounding area, and another school’s auditorium also had some water pooling.
Even if buildings are suitable come Monday, school leaders remain concerned about the strain that classes could put on staff and students facing weather- and water-related issues.
In a message to Tomball ISD employees Friday evening, Salazar-Zamora said she decided to cancel all classes Monday, giving staff members another day to “help them manage their personal affairs.”
Spring Branch ISD Superintendent Jennifer Blaine said her principals are surveying campus employees to gauge their needs, which
will influence her decision about classes next week.
“If the kids can log on but teachers can’t get on because of situations in their own homes, we’re going to have to decide what that looks like,” Blaine said.
Several superintendents opted Friday to wait on issuing plans for the upcoming week, including the leaders of Cy-Fair, Fort Bend and Pasadena ISDs.
Spring ISD announced that it would remain closed Monday and Tuesday, host an already-scheduled day of online-only classes Wednesday, then bring students back to campuses Thursday and Friday.
Alief ISD canceled classes scheduled for Monday, but did not commit to future plans.
For days missed because of cancellations, districts will receive full funding and will not be required to add days to their calendar if they “experience infrastructure issues because of outages and its related impacts,” Texas Education Agency officials said this week. It was not immediately clear Friday whether HISD’s rationale for canceling in-person and some virtual classes will qualify for the TEA exemption.