LSCS Chief Operating Officer Mario Castillo detailed the plan, who said for the majority of staff, working remotely will remain the default for full-time employees.
"We have 7,803 employees and for 89-90% of them, what we have been doing since March 23 will continue far into the summer," Castillo said.
Between May 18 and June 1, Castillo said there are 270 staff returning to buildings ready for larger numbers of employees and students to return. Following that, another 600 will be added June 1. Staff asked to return would have received word by the May 28 meeting.
The majority of instruction will remain virtual throughout the summer.
Buildings are being reopened based on campus president and cabinet member decisions, with workforce instruction being a priority. Castillo said health science buildings, such as the ones located in Tomball, Kingwood, North Harris and system offices, are among those reopening.
At this time, Castillo said he is not sure when LSCS will move forward with expanded face-to-face instruction.
"Right now at my level, we plan to remain at the phase we are in for the foreseeable future," Castillo said. "In order to open up a building, you have to certify in writing that you have hit 120-130 checkpoint items that range from getting the facilities ready, getting the classrooms ready, ensuring you have enough personal protective equipment on hand, ensuring classes have been separated in a way that increases social distancing. ... It is something we are trying to change every two weeks."
To distribute personal protective equipment, Castillo said LSC has a distribution center warehouse out of the community building at the LSC system office, which so far has delivered 102,000 masks, 250,000 gloves, 8,000 face shields, 6,000 bottles of hand sanitizer and around 250,000 sanitizing hand wipes on a weekly basis.
"We are getting every single building owner as much PPE as they want so nobody has to go without PPE," Castillo said. "We will worry about burn rates on another day."
