Spring Branch ISD Featured News

(Spanish)

Dear Families of In-Person Learners,

After two great weeks of distance learning, SBISD is excited to open its doors next week for students who have chosen in-person instruction! Thanks to the countless hours of hard work put in by our wonderful employees, we saw a very successful two weeks of distance learning and look forward to a great in-person start for those families who have chosen it. Under the LearnSBISD plan, we have strong health and safety protocols in place that enable us to welcome our students back into our classrooms.

Elementary students will report back to campuses starting on Tuesday. Please refer to communication received from your school principal for details on staggered drop-off and pick-up times.

Middle and high school students will return on a hybrid schedule for the week of Sept. 8 - Sept.11. Bringing smaller numbers of students back enables staff and students time to review and practice required health and safety protocols, hallway flow, meal protocols and review of daily health screeners.

The schedule for middle and high school students is as follows:

• Tuesday, Sept. 8, and Thursday, Sept. 10:
  Students with last names A-L attend school in-person
  Students with last names M-Z continue learning online
• Wednesday, Sept 9, and Friday, Sept. 11:
  Students with last names M-Z attend school in-person
  Students last name A-L continue learning online

Extra campus support

For campuses that have larger percentages of students choosing in-person instruction, SBISD has developed a plan for additional supports. These supports enable added frequency for cleaning high touch areas during the day and additional caring adults to help wherever needed on campus. They include:

• Contracted custodial services. The district will add extra custodians at these campuses.
• Transportation staff/bus drivers. These caring staff members will be “Campus Buddies” assigned to these campuses during the mid-day hours when they are not driving routes. They will assist students with social distancing, provide extra cleaning of high touch areas, and also will help out during lunch periods.
• Overtime support. SBISD will provide for district custodial staff members to work overtime as needed to support cleaning protocols.

No-Cost meals

We are excited to announce the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has extended several flexibilities through as late as Dec. 31, 2020, for Child Nutrition Programs across the country. Beginning Sept. 8, and continuing through Dec. 31 (or until further notice by USDA), Spring Branch ISD will provide meals at no cost to all students in SBISD.

For in-person learners, the only change is that students will no longer be required to present a district ID badge when receiving breakfast or lunch. This will help reduce burden on the campus by allowing students to quickly return to their designated eating areas to consume meals. It also eliminates the need for the exchange of cash, which will further reduce time spent in serving lines.

Reminders

Every SBISD student attending in-person is required to have a completed daily health screener PRIOR to boarding a school bus or arriving at school. High school students may complete their own screener. Middle and elementary school screeners must be completed by a parent or guardian. The health screener can be accessed here.

Please be sure that you, along with your student, have reviewed and understand LearnSBISD’s health and safety protocols prior to next week. A library of videos on health and safety can be found here.

Be sure to check the SBISD In-Person Learning webpage each week for updates, reminders and quick links to forms, resources and documents. Updates will be made at the end of each week for the week ahead.

Have a safe weekend

Over this Labor Day holiday weekend, we urge you to continue to follow health guidance and make good decisions on mask wearing, hand washing/sanitizing and social distancing. The health, safety and well-being of our entire SBISD Family is a collective effort. It will take each and every member to keep our community as safe as possible and keep our campus doors open for in-person instruction!

Sincerely,
Jennifer Blaine, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools