Most students to attend in person
By Lynsi Musselman
The Albany Independent School District 2020-2021 school year began yesterday, Aug. 19 with the tardy bell ringing at 7:55 a.m. on the elementary campus and five minutes later, at 8:00 a.m., for junior high and high school students.
Nancy Smith Elementary started the first day with 276 students enrolled.
Out of the 276 students at the elementary campus, 14 students chose the remote learning from home option being offered by Albany ISD due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
NSES enrolled 283 students in 2019 and 272 in 2018.
Albany Jr/Sr High School principal Glen Hill said the secondary campus had 230 enrolled on the first day of school with two students choosing to learn remotely.
The district’s total enrollment numbers are slightly down from last year, according to AISD director of student services Leigh Lowe, but there is a possibility of more students registering this week.
“With three percent of our enrollment choosing remote learning, there are also about five students who did not register at either campus and are doing a separate home school program,” Lowe said.
The Texas Home School Coalition reported that as of July 2020 they saw 15 times the number of public school families withdraw from public schools across the state of Texas through the THSC’s website compared to July 2019.
THSC said the number of withdrawals from public school spiked dramatically after the Texas Education Agency (TEA) announced its new back-to-school guidelines for the 2020-2021 school year.
Staff Arrival Time
While staff and teachers are following all safety guidelines and hygiene protocols, the district has installed a few more steps to ensure safety on both campuses.
NSES principal John Gallagher said teachers district-wide will arrive at school at 7:30 a.m. this year to accommodate students who arrive at 7:30 a.m. as well.
Last year, the teachers’ official arrival time was 7:45 a.m., and early students would congregate in the hallway.
Gallagher said this change will provide those students with a classroom to go to and help avoid large groups of students in the hallways.
NSES Changes
A video was shown to all elementary students on the first day of school to explain the proper way to wash hands, and a hand washing time has been added to the schedule twice a day.
Gallagher explained that not only have the lunch times been adjusted at the elementary school, but seating in the cafeteria has been spread out too.
In previous years, students could sit four to a bench. This year, just two students will be permitted per bench.
Cell Phone Safety
Hill has implemented a new cell phone storage policy on the secondary campus to help avoid cross contamination of germs from personal devices.
According to page 38 of the AISD student handbook, possession or use of personal electronic devices is not permitted during class time, unless permission has been obtained from the teacher.
Last year, each classroom was equipped with a multi-use storage pocket for students to place their phones in as they entered each room during the instructional period.
Teachers will have students place their phone on a table in a grid format, cleaning the surface between classes.
Many researchers claim that personal electronic devices are 10 times dirtier than anything else humans come in contact with, and these experts suggest cleaning devices daily when students come home from school.
