AISD conducts survey
By Lynsi Musselman
The first day of the 2020-2021 school year for Albany Independent School District begins in just five weeks, and AISD administrators are currently trying to decide the details of just how that will happen.
With school scheduled to start on Aug. 19, educators are attempting to predict and stay current with the COVID-19 situation.
Texas Education Agency, which oversees all school districts in the state, finally provided guidelines for districts on July 8.
AISD superintendent Jonathan Scott said TEA is requiring school districts to offer on-campus live instruction.
“What on-campus learning will look like is an on-going plan, but additional safety measures will definitely be put in place,” Scott said.
He explained that TEA is giving each district the option to have available at-home instruction as well, which AISD plans to offer to students this school year.
Scott said the at-home learning will be significantly more demanding than last spring, with notable differences as prescribed by TEA.
Attendance, even though it may be on Zoom or some other digital format, will be recorded for each period, assignments and report cards will mirror face-to-face instruction, and participation and virtual attendance will be required.
To help put plans and procedures in place for the upcoming school year, the district has provided a community input survey to be filled out by teachers, parents, students, administrators, and the community.
Surveys for Nancy Smith Elementary School and the secondary campus are posted on the district’s web page at www.albany isd.net and the district’s facebook page.
Parents with students at both locations are encouraged to fill out a survey for each campus.
“There is no deadline for the survey, and it will remain open at least for the near future,” Scott said. “The district values the input of the community and would like to gather information and communicate with everyone before a plan is put in place.”
Along with the survey, a District Improvement Committee, made up of teachers, administrators, and parents, will meet to help review information to develop the plan for instruction, staffing, transportation, and food service.
TEA and the Department of State Health Services have launched Stay Well, the state’s public health campaign to provide Texas districts and communities with resources to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The link to “Stay Well, Texas” is on the AISD web page.
For questions or more information regarding the community input survey, contact the district office at 325-762-2823.
