AUSTIN, Texas — Austin Independent School District leaders voted Monday night on what to do for the rest of the semester now that school is online indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.
During their emergency meeting on April 6, the AISD Board of Trustees passed several resolutions.
The first resolution allows the district to keep paying employees while schools are shut down. It also continues funding for food services.
The second would change the grading and graduation requirements for AISD students. Instead of a letter grade, they would score either "pass" or "incomplete" for classes this Spring 2020 semester. Grades this semester will not be calculated into a student's GPA.
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Additionally, students' class ranks will not be calculated using this last six week-grading period. Therefore, the ranks as of the 2019-2020 school year are already calculated.
The third resolution would allow teachers' and administrators' annual evaluation requirements to be waived.
"There are still many hurdles to teachers, students and parents to transition to online distance learning and we will all work through them together," said Geronimo Rodriguez, president of the Austin ISD Board of Trustees.
While families navigate these changes, Superintendent Paul Cruz wanted to remind parents about the resources available to them.
This includes mental health support, therapy, telemedicine and nutrition services.
In addition, families will have access to tablets and the internet in order to make learning from home possible.
"We are taking care of the social-emotional needs of our students, the physical needs of our students, and the academic needs," Cruz said.
For more information, visit the district website.
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