The CISD board of trustees did not take any action at a July 20 board meeting that would enact these changes.
"I'm assuming that we're going to get quite a bit more information in the next 24 to 48 hours that could even include some orders from the health department," CISD Superintendent David Faltys said at the meeting. "And as we get those, we'll try to get everyone that information as soon as possible and obviously try to make sense of some of those orders."
As part of a briefing, trustees reviewed possible calendar updates that would push the start date from Aug. 17 to Aug. 24. A decision to push back that start date will ultimately be made at a future meeting.
The aim of pushing back the start date to Aug. 24 would be to provide more time for teachers to be trained on providing online instruction, Assistant Superintendent for Student Services Janet McDade said.
"That would give us 10 days prior to the school year to begin training our teachers," McDade said at the meeting. "That week of [Aug. 17], which would have been the first week of school, would be an additional training week for our teachers."
This comes after Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath announced July 17 an extension to the amount of time school districts could offer online-only classes.
"We know that there are parents who are nervous and who want to keep their children home, and for that, we will support them with remote instruction 100% of the way," Morath said in a video statement. "But we also know that the on-campus instructional environment is invaluable, that a child's academic and social growth flourishes in a Texas public school. As a result, our framework ensures that there will be on-campus instruction available for all students who need it in the state of Texas. But at the same time, we know we need to provide local schools flexibility to adapt to local health conditions, especially given the rise in COVID[-19] cases that we're seeing across the state."
