Null said at this time, the option for virtual schooling is dependent on if the state will allow it, but bills in the Legislature may make it a possibility.
"We have decided to get out there and be in front of this a little bit," Null said. "If they make the decision in June or July, if we weren't already hard at work, we wouldn't be able to make that deadline."
Null said within the last month, CISD made a big step in getting the virtual school ready by hiring William Kelly as the virtual school principal.
"We are going to take what we learned from this year, and we are going to take the best of it," Kelly said. "We are going to not ask teachers to balance in-person education with virtual instruction. We are going to have CISD teachers who are full-time virtual teachers so they can spend a lot of live time with the students who are receiving that remote instruction at home."
Kelly said the plan is to have virtual schooling for students in grades three through nine for the first year before expanding it to grades 10-12.
Null said despite classes being virtual, the goal will be to have this function like any other school in CISD, and if a student transfers to another school for in-person learning, they will be on track to keep up with other students.
The plan will be for teachers at the virtual school to report to a physical location for instructions, though the location is still being selected. State testing requirements also require in-person testing.
"This allows parents to come to a physical place to meet with me, counselors and teachers," Kelly said.
An initial plan for the virtual school can be found at https://virtual.conroeisd.net/.
