District details live instruction plan

By DAVID LOPEZ
editor@sbnewspaper.com

SBCISD Board members are pictured during last Monday’s committee meetings over Zoom.
(Screenshot from Facebook)

On Tuesday, San Benito CISD board members met during committee meetings to discuss various agenda items in preparation for next week’s regular board meeting. 

On top of the agenda was a discussion on the Campus Hybrid Instruction for grades 9-12. The plan for on-campus schooling aims to hold fewer students on campus for mitigation of COVID-19. Assistant Superintendent of Academic Services Sara Alvarado broke down the plan, saying the district would have two alternating weeks: Purple week and Gold week. During A week, or Purple week, approximately half of SBCISD students grades 9-12 will receive face-to-face instruction. For seniors, the list will employ last names A through Julian; for juniors, the list will include last names “A through Lucio;” for sophomore A through Lugo; and freshmen A through Luna. Week B will be Gold week, so purple students will stay home while Gold students are on campus.

Students are instructed to stay in one classroom the entire school day to prevent them from going classroom to classroom and possibly spreading the virus. Breakfast and lunch will be served in classrooms.

“They will be using live instruction during their first period and will remain in the classroom, using devices to log on to the rest of their classes throughout the day,” Alvarado said to board members.

Principals will be tasked with creating schedules to relieve teachers for their conference periods and lunch. 

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Nate Carman shared a comment on the strategy of keeping students in one classroom.

“Obviously, we would love to move our kids from classroom to classroom, and once we believe it’s safe, we will transition over to that model,” he said. “But we’ve had whole campuses in the state of Texas, including high schools, who have had to shut their doors for two weeks because their students were changing classes [and[ they have one or two kids who test positive. It’s very difficult to trace the close contact, and then you’re back to ground zero.”

According to Dr. Carman, based on the early results of a recent online survey sent to district parents, a higher percentage of parents want their students back than he anticipated, between 45 and 50 percent. 

Want the full story? Click here or grab a copy of the Oct. 9-15 2020 issue of the NEWS.

 

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