CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — School districts all over the Coastal Bend are busy preparing for the upcoming academic school year and administrators are taking extra measures to ensure students are safe.
Schools have until September 8th to prepare to welcome back students to the classroom. In the meantime, they will be offering online distance learning for all students.
Last spring, students were forced to abandon their classrooms for distance learning in a virtual setting. Calallen ISD Superintendent Doctor Arturo Almendarez joined 3News First Edition Wednesday morning, he says the Texas Education Agency has sent down guidelines that require online students be taught exactly what is being taught during face to face instruction.
"Students that are online are going to have to produce and do all of the work that the kids are doing in a face to face setting. In the spring, we were pretty lax and had a lot of leeway with regards to what the expectations were for the students that were online. That's not the case now," said Dr. Almendarez.
He told John-Thomas Kobos Wednesday morning that the school district has been deep cleaning their campuses for well over a year now.
"We've ordered touch-less apparatuses for drinking fountains and things. We've taken a lot of measures to make certain that our schools are safe as possible, said Dr. Almendarez.
They are also following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and say while they have been taking steps to keep the everything sanitized, they will be disinfecting more frequently once students return.
"We've bought what we call guns, that spray disinfectant. We have guidelines whereby either the teachers or maintenance have to clean and disinfect every thing that is being used by students and staff frequently during the day," said Dr. Almendarez.
Dr. Almendarez also shared his biggest concern for when students return to the classroom.
"My greatest fear, I think honestly, someone knowing that they've tested positive or having the symptoms and not staying home. We're going to have to really emphasize to our parents that if their children have any of the symptoms they need to stay at home, said Dr. Almendarez.
When it comes to extracurricular activities, Calallen ISD will be following procedures and guidelines from the University Interscholastic League (UIL).
"In terms of football, the UIL has stated that football season will proceed just like it was planned. Our football players have been conditioning and practicing for a few days, they're not doing so this week, but we'll start again next week with our strength and conditioning and I believe we're gonna have another good solid football season," said Dr. Almendarez.
Online instruction will begin for Calallen ISD on August 19th. Link to 2020-2021 COVID Calendar.
For the latest updates on coronavirus in the Coastal Bend, click here.
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