TEXAS, USA — Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Friday that Texas schools will be closed for the rest of the 2019-2020 school year.
"The team of doctors advising us have determined that it would be unsafe to allow students together in schools for the foreseeable future. As a result, school classrooms are closed for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year," said Gov. Abbott. "That includes all public, private and higher education institutions."
KVUE reached out to Central Texas school districts regarding the announcement. Their responses are listed below:
AISD issued a statement which read, in part:
"Austin ISD will of course, follow the executive order, as our district has already announced the indefinite closure of our campus buildings. While our campus buildings are closed, our students need to remain engaged and active with Continuous Learning. For now, Continuous Learning is how AISD will continue to educate our more than 81,000 students.
The health and safety of our students and staff will remain our focus. The City of Austin and Travis County currently have a Stay Home, Work Safe Order through May 8, which also includes wearing face coverings when you leave your home. We will continue to align with state and local guidance to ensure our community remains safe, including our essential workers, such as those who help serve 12,000 meals per day and provide technology support to keep students learning."
Del Valle ISD sent information to families on Friday. In part, it read:
"In compliance with the order announced today by Governor Greg Abbott, Del Valle ISD will remain closed for the remainder of the 2019-2020 academic year.
The health and safety of our students, families, and staff remains our top priority.
I am confident that the E-learning system we have in place will ensure learning continues through the end of the school year. The E-learning website is fully viewable from a smartphone and we have added a number of "no tech" activities to the site. Access the DVISD Family Site by a smartphone at https://sites.google.com/delvalle-isd.org/dvfamily/home."
Georgetown ISD posted a message on its website on Friday. It said, in part:
"During this time, Georgetown ISD will continue to deliver learning through remote online instruction while keeping district facilities closed. The last day of remote learning is May 28, 2020.
Meal distribution will continue to take place for the rest of the year and device lending will resume soon for families who need computers or internet access at home."
"Hays CISD anticipated that this would be a possibility. We have completed our efforts to convert to online and at-home learning and mobile meal service. We will continue those operations through the remainder of the school year. We are also currently working on a plan to allow students and teachers to enter buildings to retrieve belongings, but we don't anticipate that will happen until the end of May or early June."
Lake Travis ISD posted a message on its website on Friday. It said, in part:
"While LTISD buildings and facilities will remain closed, we will continue to engage our students through our online learning platform. We will also continue to provide essential operations as needed including grab and go meals, cleaning and custodial services, and other critical functions. As we have done throughout the closure, all district employees will continue to be paid, and I fully expect our employees to continue to be paid next year as well.
Additionally, the governor’s order results in the cancellation of all LTISD events scheduled through Friday, May 22, our final day of instruction for the current school year. These canceled events include our Lake Travis High School graduation ceremony originally scheduled to be held Friday, May 22, at Cavalier Stadium. Instead, LTHS staff will provide a virtual ceremony for our seniors and their families on Friday, May 22, and plans are in progress for an alternate graduation event to be held in person on Saturday, Aug. 1, at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park."
Leander ISD issued this information regarding the school closures to families on Friday.
In part, it read:
"While we wish we could be in our classrooms, leading learning and celebrating the end of our year in person with our school families, we understand our community’s health and safety take precedence. We will continue to support students and families as we move forward in responding to the COVID-19 health crisis.
We will meet with our Board of Trustees next week and provide another update to families and staff on Friday, April 24. Please visit our COVID-19 support webpage for frequently asked questions."
The full message includes details on a zoom conference schedule for students and staff with Superintendent Bruce Gearing, Ed.D.
"We knew this was a strong possibility given the current situation. In Round Rock ISD, we will continue with At-Home learning through the end of the school year. (Our last day is May 21.) We have already addressed how grading and promotion will work (information is available on our FAQ) and are currently working on plans for seniors. We'll be providing more information for seniors and their family next week. Here's a link to a video that provides an overview of our At-Home Learning platform: https://news.roundrockisd.org/2020/04/16/at-home-learning-teachers-students-and-families-continue-instruction/ "
The full message San Marcos CISD issued to families can be found here. It has details on curbside meals and instructional packet distribution.
In part, the message reads:
"San Marcos CISD will follow the executive order and will not return to face-to-face classroom instruction this year. It has become clear that it will be in the best interest of our students and staff that San Marcos CISD continue at-home learning through the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year.
We have built systems and structures to deliver at-home learning for the time being. While we recognize this system is not perfect, we believe it will allow us to successfully complete the year while we focus on our planning for the reopening of school in August and re-strategizing to make up for any lost learning in the current year."
"In response to Gov. Abbott’s orders today Taylor ISD will extend the suspension of normal district operations for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year in an effort to support our nation’s need to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19.
Taylor ISD will continue to feed anyone 18 years old or younger at our designated feeding sites. We will continue to maintain our 'Closed, Instructing' operation status for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year."
Wimberley ISD posted this message on its website:
"In accordance with Gov. Abbott's order issued on April 17, all WISD campuses will be closed for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year, while providing at-home instruction."
KVUE also reached out to Bastrop Independent School District and Pflugerville Independent School District but has not received a response yet.
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: