According to Julie Thannum, CISD assistant superintendent for board and community relations, the TEA contacted school districts in December to give them the ability to implement this requirement for students struggling with remote learning.
“Our students who have chosen remote learning are actually performing quite well, and our desire is to partner with the parents of the few who are not to help their student be more successful,” Thannum said. “This could mean eventually requiring the students to return to in-person instruction.”
As of Dec. 11, nearly 64% of students in Carroll ISD were attending in-person classes for the third grading period, according to Carroll ISD’s choice of instruction page. During the first grading period, about 53% of students were attending in-person instruction.
Janet McDade, CISD assistant superintendent for student services, said by email that students required to return to in-person instruction will benefit from the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support protocol. The protocol ensures the classroom teachers and the counseling and support staff provide prevention, intervention and/or enrichment for each student to ensure gaps are filled and critical needs are met, she said.
“The students’ support team will determine if they must focus on core, targeted or intensive intervention to support the student,” McDade said. “This allows us to assign staff, allocate resources and create schedules in the most effective way to support student success.”
McDade said parents may appeal the return to in-person learning by submitting a medical exemption if there is a health concern.
As more students return to face-to-face instruction, McDade said teachers and campus administrators will maintain consistent health protocols.
“Each nine weeks, we have seen an increase in students returning to in-person learning, so our campus administrators and teachers are experienced in teaching and enforcing the health and safety protocols,” McDade said. “These health and safety protocols have successfully kept our schools open all year.”
It is unclear how many students will be affected by the policy change. Parents with questions about their child's status should contact their campus principal.
