Argyle ISD will offer families to choose between in-person and virtual learning options when the 2020-21 school year begins next month.
As coronavirus cases continue to surge locally and around Texas, school districts are following guidelines from the Texas Education Agency for how to reopen schools. The TEA is allowing schools to offer virtual learning options, but districts must plan to have schools open daily to receive funding from the TEA.
As of Tuesday, Argyle ISD plans to offer in-person learning and remote asynchronous instruction options. For the in-person instruction, students and teachers will participate in a traditional classroom setting with many additional safety protocols implemented to help reduce the risk of the spread of COVID-19. Staff and teachers will be required to self-screen for symptoms and must report to the nurse and principal if they have symptoms, test positive or have close contact with someone who tests positive. Parents will also be required to check their children for symptoms before sending them to school. Many other health protocols can be found here.
During Monday night’s Board of Trustees meeting, staff informed the board that a staff survey revealed that about 74% of the 272 respondents said they would be comfortable or very comfortable returning to schools this fall with additional health and safety protocols in place.
If a student is enrolled in in-person learning, but their parent wants to move them to virtual instruction during the school year, they may do so. Once virtual instruction is selected, the student will be required to remain in the virtual learning model for the rest of the nine-week grading period.
The virtual learning model will be mostly asynchronous, meaning it does not require all participants to be virtually present at the same time for all of the classes. However, there will be some live, synchronous instruction for older students. For grades 5-12, some classes will be live-streamed from a teacher instructing an in-person class.
Parents who want to choose the virtual learning option for their students must submit the application by Aug. 3. Click here for more information about the district’s return to learning plan.
During the board meeting on Monday, the board also approved a 2% raise for district employees.
