Grandview-Hopkins COVID-19 School Opening Information

I hope you are all having a good summer! It is going fast, and it is hard to believe the start of the 2020-21 school year is just around the corner.

It goes without saying that it was a vey different school year last year. As we are looking forward to school starting in August, unfortunately the virus is still with us and influencing our world. If you have listened to the news or heard anything about what the Governor and Texas Education Agency are talking about in regards to school opening, you know that school is going to look different when we open back up in the fall. I will be providing more information as we get closer to the start of school, but I want to provide you with some basic information about what we know right now. We are all used to things changing week to week and sometimes day to day during this pandemic, so I want to say that all of this information could be subject to change as we move forward into the new school year.

As a reminder, earlier this year, Grandview-Hopkins ISD adopted a school calendar that has classes starting for students on August 19th. That is still our plan, and I don't see it changing based on the knowledge we have right now. We will likely make some small changes to the length of our school day, so we can bank some minutes and have some extra days in case we need them for school closures for illness, weather events or other things that come up during the year.Other than that, we don't plan on adjusting the actual days in our calendar at this time.

There are lots of questions about what school will look like when we start back, but when classes begin for students at Grandview-Hopkins ISD, our primary model of instruction will be campus-based learning. That means we are planning on the children and teachers being in the classrooms in as normal a setting as we can provide. There are very stringent guidelines and safety protocols we will be required to follow, and many of them you are familiar with because they have become standard operating procedures in the COVID-19 world. We are working and planning, using the protocols outlined by the CDC and Texas Education Agency, to have things ready to return to school. We will provide more details in the coming weeks as we develop our own specific protocols, but rest assured that we will provide a clean, safe, sanitary environment for your children. Fortunately the social distancing requirement is somewhat easier at Grandview, but we will follow those requirements and then some, as we make plans for the students to return. There is always the question about masks for the children, and the state is saying students may wear them, but it is not required. We will not require the students to wear masks for a variety of reasons, but if you are more comfortable with your child wearing a mask when returning to school, we will support you in that decision

There will be options and plans in place for remote instruction, as needed, for parents who are are not comfortable with their children receiving on campus classroom instruction. Also, if there is a need to move to remote learning for a period of time during the school year because of an increase in COVID-19 cases, or other factors, we will have a plan to provide remote instruction and be prepared for those situations. As part of our planning, we will be asking for your feedback in the coming weeks, on whether or not you are comfortable sending your child to school for campus-based learning. We will need this information for planning as we consider how we may need to provide remote and on-campus learning concurrently. Be aware that remote learning will look very different than it did last Spring. It will be much more stringent for the students and for schools, and those requirements will be outlined in future postings.

If you have questions or need more information, you may email me at kent.hargis@region16.net, or the call the school at 806 669-3831. If no one answers, leave a message and I will get back with you as soon as possible.

Continue to stay safe and well, and we will see you in August.

Mr. Hargis