Superintendent of Schools

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Details regarding school closure through April 3 - March 17, 2020

03/17/2020

Dear SAISD Staff:

Today, we joined with school districts across Bexar County in announcing that our schools will remain closed through Friday, April 3. We are working in coordination with our peer districts to bring clarity to a stressful time for all of our families and employees.

We know many of you are concerned about payroll during our school closure. At tonight’s Board meeting, we are asking Trustees to approve a resolution to continue funding for all permanent, full-time staff members, including hourly employees, as we work through this challenge.

As our academic and social work plans become more defined, we’ll have a clearer sense on how we can address payroll for part-time staff and substitutes as well. Expect more communication on this as we move forward.

Additionally, we are working on a plan for all employees to begin working remotely, and our goal is to finalize and communicate this measure by the end of the week. Throughout this closure, we ask that permanent, full-time employees consider themselves at work. Every employee in our District adds value to the organization and as such, there may be times when supervisors – both on campuses as well as at the District level – will need to communicate, collaborate, and coordinate with their employees. To this end, we ask that employees remain accessible and responsive to their supervisors, particularly during normal business hours.

There are still many important functions that must be managed in an effort to ensure that we are providing services to students and employees. As a result, there will be occasions that key personnel will be called upon to report to work for periods of time to accomplish these tasks. This includes but is not limited to being available to report in person within 90 minutes of being contacted, participating in online meetings, and responding promptly to calls, emails, and text messages.

Additional communication specific to campus-based staff is forthcoming.

Please know our focus on students is unwavering. SAISD is committed to providing high-quality learning experiences for our students, both through online and paper platforms. Principals are training this week, and we are working with teachers to start providing families a variety of online and paper resources to support remote learning. You can view our digital resources for all grades today at www.saisd.net/2020.

Paper resources will be available for students beginning Monday, March 23 at the food distribution sites. By Monday, March 30, we anticipate teachers will begin communicating with students in the online environment.

We know that parents have been asking for additional food distribution sites, and we are expanding from eight campuses to 27 campuses beginning tomorrow. Our family and engagement specialists also will be reaching out to parents this week to identify what additional needs and questions families have at this time.

It is important to note that the circumstances surrounding school closures are rapidly evolving, and the situation may change. We are working closely with the city, county and other districts to plan ahead to meet the needs of our community’s children. We are prepared to provide remote instruction for as long as we need to. We ask that you be prepared for this potential scenario as well.

Thank you for your patience and partnership as continue the important task of educating our students. We are navigating uncharted territory, but I know that in the end, we will come through this experience an even stronger District.

Sincerely,
Pedro