School re-opening split between in-person and online only initially
Wimberley ISD will start in-person school for two campuses on the original start date of August 19 while two campuses will do online schooling until September 8.
The decision was made by the WISD Board of Trustees on Monday night after the administration delivered a comprehensive school restart safety plan, but the board also stressed that the community would still have a chance to comment on the new plan. The plan could be adjusted because of those comments or changes in the local COVID-19 landscape.
The proposal is for Blue Hole Primary and Jacob’s Well Elementary to start in-person schooling on campus August 19 with at-home learning options available for families that wish to use them. Danforth Junior High and Wimberley High School will start with at-home learning on August 19 and move to in-person school with athome learning options on September 8.
Board members passionately argued the points for both starting in-person schooling as soon as possible or delaying it while readily admitting that there are no fool-proof options at this time with differing consequences on both ends of the spectrum.
“Our teachers have been very vocal over the last couple of days of receiving this (planning) document that they need more time to prepare,” Board of Trustee Traci Maxwell said. “…If we are going to ask them to go above and beyond what they are contracted to do, and that is what we are asking… I (want to) give that to them.”
The trustees that argued for delaying the start of in-person learning largely centered on giving teachers, parents and students enough time to appropriately prepare for the new system that will involve multiple location-based learning models. There was also a stated concern about the spread of COVID-19 in the Wimberley community and the region at large and the impacts starting school could have on spreading the virus.
The argument for starting school in-person as soon as possible was largely about the unintended consequences of keeping children out of school. Multiple board members cited information of an increase in child abuse cases in Hays County during the pandemic and reports from parents about the negative impacts the lack of in-person school was causing both mentally on the children and on families in general.
“What I am hearing from emergency room doctors, and I’ve talked to two now, they are almost adamant we start school,” Board Trustee Ken Strange said. “They are seeing consequences that we don’t see in the news like child abuse is up… These doctors feel like these kids need to go back to school. It is incumbent on us to be responsible and take care of them when they get here… I am really worried about kids in our community that are not doing well and they need to come back to school and need a safe place to be.”
The plan to restart in-person education at some campuses while doing online-only education at others was the recommendation of the school administration. Each principal gave a recommendation, with Danforth Junior High Principal Greg Howard and Wimberley High School Principal Jason Valentine stating that they could have schools ready by August 19 but did not object to a September 8 start date for in-person education. Jacob’s Well Elementary Principal SueAnna Thomas spoke for her school and Blue Hole Primary recommending that in-person education start on August 19.
Due to the nature of the production of the meeting, which was largely audio only with a slideshow, it was not immediately clear which trustees voted for the re-start plan and which voted against it. It was only stated that the motion was approved.
The district presented the plan for re-opening, which includes in-person education and two forms of at-home education, requires students to wear a mask in accordance with the governor’s executive orders as well as plans for how the school will react to COVID-19 cases. To see the full plan, visit wimberleyisd.net.