LGISD’s Letter to Families About School
La Grange Superintendent William Wagner sent out this letter to families in the school district Wednesday:
Dear La Grange ISD Families:
I wanted to share with you an update of where we are in planning for the new school year which is scheduled to begin on Thursday, August 13. The present status is that TEA has directed school districts to begin in-person instruction along with the option of at-home instruction to begin the school year. However, this could change over the next few weeks and we could be mandated to start the school year with only an online option with students remaining at home for a period of time. We will keep you posted on those developments.
Our current plan for a safe return to school is being devised. We realize that we are working with conditions that are fluid and are continuing to evolve daily. We plan to release the
“La Grange ISD Safe Return to School Plan” for students, staff, and parents, on Wednesday, July 22 with the most up to date information that we have at that time. This plan will describe our Infection Control Measures, Health Screenings, Procedures for Isolation of Students/Staff who may show symptoms, Exposure Procedures, Notification Procedures, On Campus Clinic Procedures, Learning Environments, Instructional Delivery Methods, Breakfast and Lunch Protocols, and Transportation Measures.
All students in grades 4-12 and staff will be required to wear a mask when school starts.
This is due to Governor Abbott’s last Executive Order. All staff will be given a clear face shield so that students will be able to see every adult’s face. Students are encouraged to wear their own mask when school begins, however, the campuses will have masks available for any student who would need assistance with obtaining a mask.
Since parents will have a choice of whether to have their child return to school for in-person learning or remain home for remote online learning, we will be sending a commitment form out to parents to inform the District of their choice. We will not ask you to make that choice until we have shared our “Safe Return to School Plan” so that you are informed of how we will handle safety here at school. We realize that you need that information to make the best informed decision for you and your child. You can expect the commitment form on Friday, July 24 and we will ask that you return the commitment form by the following Friday, July 31, so that we can adequately plan for our students and the choice that each family has made.
If a parent chooses remote online instruction for their child, the student is required to remain with online instruction until the end of the first six weeks, which ends on Wednesday, September 23. If the parent wishes for the student to return to in-person learning, the first day for that to happen would be Thursday, September 24. However, if a parent chooses to have their child return to school with in-person learning on Thursday, August 13, the parent does have the option to change to online learning at any point during the six weeks, they do not have to wait until the end of the six weeks grading period.
Remote online learning will require that the student is able to access the internet and has a device available at home.
Students will have to be logged on in real time and will follow their course schedule throughout the day. Teachers will be projecting or recording lessons from their classroom on campus. Schedules will be released at a later date prior to the beginning of the school year.
The UIL has not released information at this time as to how middle and high school UIL extracurricular activities will be organized for the fall. We are anticipating that information will be forthcoming on Monday, July 20, however, that could change. We hope to have that information available to you as well when it comes time to make your decision as to what choice you will make for your student, whether to return to school or remain at home for instruction.
As important as education is to our young people, please know that we realize that nothing is more important than the health and safety of our students and staff. The health and safety of everyone is going into every decision we make under the guidelines we have been given by the State of Texas, the Texas Education Agency, and both state and local health officials.