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Austin ISD board votes to delay start of school year to September 8th


Austin ISD has moved the first day of school to September 8th (File photo: CBS Austin)
Austin ISD has moved the first day of school to September 8th (File photo: CBS Austin)
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The Austin ISD school board voted early Friday morning to push the start date of the new school year to next month.

AISD will start the year on September 8th, the day after Labor Day.

Last month, AISD announced the first day of school--virtual for the first three weeks due to COVID-19--would be on August 18th.

RELATED: Teachers' union demands Austin ISD not hold in-person schooling until November

The new start date proposal comes with an extended four weeks of online classes, and an opportunity for on-campus instruction for students who do not have access to reliable technology or internet connectivity. Before moving to four weeks of phased-in in-person schooling, allowing for "our community to adjust to the latest in-person requirements in the changing health conditions of our city with safety at the forefront of every decision."

The district has also filed a waiver with the Texas Education Agency - or TEA - for the additional four weeks of transition. If granted this waiver, AISD would be able to offer online-only classes for eight full weeks to start the school year.

Crystal Contreras is both a teacher and parent of a student with AISD. She said she was relieved to learn the board voted to delay the start.

"There was just a lot of questions that we as teachers had that maybe other people don't think about. When we don't have answers to those questions, it's hard to imagine going back," Contreras said.

The district will adjust staff work calendars as part of the updated calendar, specifically adjustments to start and end dates for some employees.

Teacher Karen Reyes said she plans to use the extra time to prepare for a very different school year, but the health and safety of her students will be top of mind.

"Our first focus since the beginning has been safety for everyone. As a teacher, of course I'm worried about my own safety, but I do worry about my students' safety and their families' safety. I worked with kids that start at 3-year-olds and come in school buildings for the first time. Everyone gets sick the first couple of months in school. Even I get sick the first couple of months of school. These are typical, run of the mill, catch a bug at the beginning because it happens," Reyes said. "We can work on all these other things, but you can't bring a life back. One life is too many lost. I rather us be overly cautious than regretting we weren't overly cautious. I'm hoping everyone understands this isn't, 'We don't want to go back to school.' Trust me, we do. I love being in the classroom with kids. If I could do that right now, I would, but it's not safe right now, so I'm hoping people know this is about safety. Until it's safe, we shouldn't go back for in-person teaching."

After getting the question of the school restart date answered, both Reyes and Contreras now want to know what the district has planned for the transition back into the classrooms.

The district released return plans weeks ago, but Reyes wants to see more concrete plans for when more than 25 percent of students are back in classrooms.

"My personal thoughts on this are let's have a real solid plan, and make it public so people are aware of, 'Okay, this might happen, and these are the steps we're going to take,'" Reyes said. "How can we ensure our kids are being safe and social distancing? What happens if they're not? I don't want to send kids to the principals' office if they're not wearing masks because they're 5. These are things that are not normal for them."

Contreras has questions from the perspective of both a parent and teacher.

"What are bathroom breaks going to look like, what is it going to look like when a student has an accident, is there an evacuation plan in place, what happens when there's a fire drill, what happens when we have an active shooter drill because unfortunately that is a reality, and one of the things we do is we all crowd together in one corner of the room in the tightest possible spot," Contreras said.

Both Reyes and Contreras also want to see what the district and state do about STAAR testing.

Last spring, the standardized tests were canceled. Contreras said she hopes school leaders prioritize the students' emotional well-being in the time of a pandemic over these tests.

"Our 4th, 5th, and 3rd graders feel the pressure of the STAAR test as soon as they get into 3rd grade, and I don't like when my students are freaking out about it, so I especially don't like it when my son is freaking out about it. I personally, it doesn't bother me. He'll get caught up. It's a global pandemic. It's a global issue. Everyone is facing trauma, and my most important thing as a mom is making sure my kid is safe and feels good, and his mental health is on the forefront of my mind," Contreras said.

A big motivation behind the board electing to delay the first day of school is the backlog in their technology order.

Currently, the board does not anticipate to get all of the iPads they ordered until mid-September, and all of their Chromebooks until possibly December.

Reyes said the availability of technology is important to make sure all children are on a level playing field.

"I imagine the whole world is on backorder right now because everyone has been ordering technology like crazy, which brings us to there are so many issues of equity in our district that have been there for a long time. This pandemic did not bring out anything new. How do we make sure all of our families have access, not just to technology but access to the resources," Reyes said.

AISD employee's compensation will not be reduced, and they will continue to receive their regularly scheduled pay. The number of scheduled workdays for all employees will not be reduced.

The board approved paying classified staff who have to work at the school - like bus drivers, custodians, and kitchen staff - starting August 18, not September 8, because these staff members were expecting paychecks starting that day. The district will be paying $1.8 million for the three weeks between the original first day of school and new first day of school.

Classified staff will begin or continue their work calendar as originally scheduled. Some classified staff will work additional days at the end of the year and will be compensated for those days.

"These are the folks on the front lines - they have been since March - feeding our children, getting technology out to them, cleaning our schools. They're out there doing curbside registration making sure our kids are able to start on the first day. I think it's important we take care of each other. I think it's important while those may not have affected me and my pay, I think all employees in this district are valuable. These are the folks keeping our schools running," Reyes said.

The teacher work calendar will contain the same number of 187 contract days; work calendars for teachers and other non-classified employees may be adjusted to ensure that the number of workdays are not increased, and campuses are supported until the end of the school year.

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