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Welcome back! - Jan. 13, 2021
01/13/2021
Dear SAISD Staff:

Welcome back to the spring semester! We are grateful our Trustees approved an instructional calendar that added one week of intercession following our winter break. The extra week created a buffer between holiday gatherings and travel and the return of our staff and students.

Building on the safe actions implemented through our school opening plan, the intercession week gives us additional control over how we address the virus. This foresight allowed us to monitor our health last week out of care and concern for ourselves and others during this ongoing pandemic. 

As we look toward the second half of our school year, we continue to be guided by a commitment to the health and safety of our staff and students, along with high-quality instruction for our children. We also are focused on educational equity through the distribution of resources and in providing accurate and timely communications to our families and employees. 

Our strategies to date have been threefold. We have used the most up-to-date information at our disposal to gradually phase-in students, prioritizing those with the greatest need for in-person instruction. We also launched COVID testing in 100% of our schools to break the chain of transmission by those who are unaware they are contagious. And, currently, we are seeking to become part of the solution by working with healthcare agencies to access vaccines for all staff who want them and to provide them at a common, District site. 

Since November, our Texas Education Agency and Community Labs partners have overseen the administration of more than 26,000 COVID-19 tests to staff and students who are in-person and have opted to take advantage of this safety measure. Symptomatic individuals are required to stay home, so we are testing asymptomatic individuals on campuses, and our positivity rate remains below 1%. Just like the city, to determine our percentage, we are reporting the number of individuals who test positive over the total number of individuals tested. 

For symptomatic and directly exposed Bexar County school faculty, staff and students – including SAISD remote learners and their families – beginning this week, these individuals are eligible for COVID testing each weekday by our Con Corazon partner at two few fixed sites and one SAISD mobile site. SAISD’s site is at Alamo Stadium each Wednesday, beginning today, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. See all sites and times on this flyer.

By doing these three overarching things, we are keeping everyone and their loved ones as healthy as we possibly can. We believe our spring semester can begin and end safely!

I will continue to keep you informed through these letters, as well as town halls such as the one last week on our spring opening plan and the one yesterday on vaccine deployment for our employees.

On another important note, yesterday was the first day of the 87th legislative session in our state’s capitol. Between now and the closing session on May 31, our District’s legislative priorities are focused on school finance, state accountability and assessments, the digital divide, and maintaining local control in areas such as school health conditions and education protections for our immigrant students and their families. We will continue to share details of our priorities as this year’s legislative session gets further underway.

Before I close I want to mention that in January, we also are recognizing School Board Recognition Month. We are thankful to our hardworking Trustees who play such an important role in our communities and schools. We will be holding a celebration later this month as a tribute to their efforts. Details will be forthcoming.

Sincerely,
Pedro

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