In accordance with the most recent guidance from the Texas Education Agency (TEA) released yesterday, Angleton ISD will continue to follow the district’s current COVID-19 protocols, which include that masks be worn in all AISD facilities.

“We will continue to monitor COVID-19 data as well as guidance from TEA and other state and local health agencies to review our procedures and make necessary changes as recommended,” AISD Superintendent Phil Edwards said.

Edwards believes having access to the COVID-19 vaccine is extremely important in getting schools back to normalcy and was pleased with yesterday’s announcement from the Texas Department of State Health Services that all educators and school support staff be included in the vaccine administration.

“We are working with our local health care vaccine providers to help get our employees who want the vaccine access to it as soon as possible,” he said.

The AISD COVID-19 Health Guidance, including district protocols, can be found at www.angletonisd.net/OnwardAISD. Parents should contact their child’s campus administration with questions.

Students who have been quarantined by a school official due to close contact with a positive COVID-19 individual at school can now take a rapid test given by the school district as early as day five of their quarantine period. If they receive a negative test on day five, they can return on day seven of their quarantine period. That means that any student who has been on quarantine since Monday, February 1 will be eligible for a rapid test on Friday, February 5.

If students are eligible, parents should contact the school principal for information on how to schedule a rapid test with the district. Also, students will now be able to take the rapid test regardless of whether or not the student has symptoms; however, if a student is symptomatic, AISD will follow the same protocols as it has been following.

If students do not take a test, they will still need to quarantine for the full 10 days. If they do test positive within their quarantine period, they will have to follow the protocols for testing positive.

As for employees, the district will continue with the current protocols at this point. Employees will still be pushed to test at UTMB. Employees need to contact their supervisor and Human Resources if they need a test and to let them know they may have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.

Parents need to contact their child’s campus if they have questions.

The school district has determined that students will not come to school on Monday, March 15 after Spring Break to allow for a staff planning day.

Due to the trend of COVID-19 positive cases increasing after school breaks, school district administration has determined that adding the staff planning day will allow schools to prepare for a safer return of students to campuses after Spring Break. This planning day will also allow AISD staff to navigate the changing of students’ schedules more successfully, preparing for students who may move from Online Learning to On-Campus Learning or from On-Campus Learning to Online Learning. In addition, the planning day will allow teachers additional time to close out the grading period.

At last night’s meeting, the Angleton ISD Board of Trustees approved two major resolutions directly related to the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on school districts. The resolutions address the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine and the canceling of the 2021 STAAR test.

The first resolution is a request for Governor Greg Abbott to include public school district personnel in the official Expert Vaccine Allotment Panel’s definition of “frontline workers,” giving school personnel appropriate priority in the statewide administration of the COVID-19 vaccine as it becomes available.

“Our teachers and staff are on the frontline, and we think it’s extremely important that we avail them to the vaccine as quickly as possible so they can protect themselves and help slow the spread of COVID-19 in our community,” AISD Board President Tommy Gaines said.

The resolution cites the board’s interest in protecting the health and safety of its students, staff and community to ensure that the school district is fully prepared to face the challenges resulting from the COVID-19 health emergency. It defines all school district staff as essential to the day-to-day operations of the district and critical for virtual and in-class instruction, and the board is officially asking Governor Abbott to recognize the impact that schools have on students and families and the integral role they play in the health and safety of the community.

“Public schools are a vital part of the continued fight and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic,” AISD Superintendent Phil Edwards said. “School teachers are on the frontline every day of this fight and should be given the consideration and thought to provide a safe environment for themselves, their families and the children they serve.”

The second resolution that the board passed supports canceling the STAAR test and suspending the State accountability for the 2020-2021 school year. This action will allow the school district to focus on interventions necessary to recover instructional gaps resulting from school closures caused by COVID-19.

Research shows that there are significant academic gains made at the end of each school year, which may not be present now with the extended school closure and other issues related to the pandemic. The resolution cites natural disasters such as Katrina, Rita and Harvey as examples of past instances where exceptions to State accountability have been made because of the negative effects that school closures have on student achievement.

“Our staff, students and their families do not need the added pressure that the STAAR test provides every year,” Edwards said. “Although TEA (Texas Education Agency) has stated that schools and districts will not be rated this year, I have no faith that TEA will cease assigning letter grades to district and school domains from any STAAR test administration.”

Edwards is also concerned that TEA has not canceled the End of Course (EOC) passing requirements that affect student graduation abilities.

“High school students have faced and are still facing many obstacles this year due to COVID-19, and for TEA to continue to demand that this additional burden be placed on students during this difficult time is unwarranted,” he said.

Edwards says AISD has other diagnostic tools that can be used to determine student performance and academic achievement levels for students in all grades.

“The practice of comparing schools and districts and in placing unnecessary stress on students and staff should not be in place this school year,” he said. “Standards should be adjusted to allow school districts to use other evaluation tools that will provide a more accurate assessment and reflection of the progress made during this unprecedented and difficult time.”

Gaines says the board agrees with Edwards and that having a STAAR Test this year would have no real bearing and will add extra, unnecessary stress right now.

“Continuing the test would be wasting time on a result that is meaningless, and it will be difficult to do with the current situation in respect to COVID-19 and the quarantining that is happening,” he said. “We do not need to focus on an assessment that will only put undue pressure on our students and staff.”

 

Read the School District Frontline Workers Resolution  |  Read the STAAR Resolution

Starting Tuesday, January 19, Angleton ISD will begin sending out daily health surveys for Angleton High School students to complete before coming to school each day. The surveys will help the school determine health issues related to COVID-19, checking students’ current health prior to them coming on campus.

What do students need to do?

The surveys will be sent through the students’ school email accounts every morning at approximately 5:30 a.m. Students will need to check their school emails each morning to find the link to the survey, which will be sent out new every day. The survey will close at 10:00 a.m. for those students who have off periods or Dual Enrollment classes in the morning.

This past week, AHS has been discussing the surveys with students, helping them understand how to complete the online survey and what the expectations are.

What will happen when the students do the survey?

Students will receive one of two marks after completing the survey. A green check mark will indicate that a student is cleared to come to school. If a student gets a yellow yield sign after completing the survey, the student or a parent/guardian will need to contact the campus nurse before coming to the campus. The nurse’s phone line will be listed under the yield sign on the survey, and phone lines will be open at 7:00 a.m. for students or parents/guardians to call. After the call, designated school personnel will make the determination as to whether or not the student will be allowed to come to campus that day.

What happens if the student cannot come to school?

If school personnel determine that a student should not come to campus, the student may be expected to work remotely and log in to his/her Google Classes each period if they are well enough to do so. If a student is too sick to work, the parent needs to contact the school so his/her child can be counted absent.

If a student is ill and it is not related to COVID-19, then he/she needs to follow the regular school protocols.

What happens if the student forgets to do the survey before coming to school?

If a student fails to complete the survey before coming to school, he/she will be flagged in the system, and AHS personnel will contact the student during his first period for the day to complete the survey or gather the information.

What types of questions will the student be asked?

The questions in the survey will help the schools identify potential COVID-19 issues before students come to the campus. A link to the survey questions is on the AISD Update Center.

The questions are designed to help the district collect important information to provide a safe and healthy school environment. The data collected from the survey is confidential and will be used solely to determine if a student should come to school.

See an example of the Health Survey.

Will other campuses have to do the survey?

AISD plans to roll out the daily health surveys at Angleton Junior High School starting on Monday, February 1. At this time, the district does not have a plan to roll out the surveys at the elementary campuses.

The district has already rolled out the health surveys with its staff. Since November, all AISD employees have had to complete health surveys every day before coming to work.

Students and parents/guardians should contact the school if they have questions.