Austin ISD will go back to school in person after winter break, varsity athletics to continue

AUSTIN (KXAN) — In-person classes will resume as normal following winter break's end on Jan. 5 and 6 in the Austin Independent School District, superintendent Dr. Stephanie Elizalde announced Thursday.

Varsity athletics in the district will also continue, but all sub-varsity athletics and other extracurricular activities are suspended, Elizalde said in a letter to families Thursday morning before the official announcement at the press conference.

Some staff at schools are using Jan. 5 as an additional staff development day, so due to that, classes at those schools won't begin until Jan. 6. The district has a list of schools using the extra development day on its website.

Elizalde previously said the district was considering a number of options depending on what public health officials recommended: going to all remote classes for a week after winter break, closing the district for that week and not having class at all or continuing as normal. Austin Public Health moved the county to Stage 5 of their COVID-19 risk levels Dec. 23 due to "uncontrolled" spread of the disease.

On Tuesday, APH Interim Health Authority Dr. Mark Escott recommended school districts suspend extracurricular activities along with moving middle and high schools to remote learning, but due to Texas Education Agency guidelines, Elizalde said they need to continue to offer in-person classes.

"I know no decision will create harmony among our constituents," she said. "We are continuing to do the very best we can with the data available to us. At any moment, if we have a school that's showing any concerns, we will access our ability to close that school as necessary."

Elizalde said "the large majority" of district families are choosing to continue remote classes, and they want to "continue to encourage that." In order to maintain its current funding level from the TEA, she said they have to continue to at least offer in-person classes.

"There are constraints, and those absolutely come from the Texas Education Agency," Elizalde said. "Being that school is an essential function, we know that some of our parents also have a requirement needing their sons or daughters in a classroom setting physically, not just virtual or remote."

Elizalde said AISD has been "far below" the threshold of capacity recommendations by public health officials, saying attendance at secondary schools has been at 18% or below prior to Austin Public Health moving the area to Stage 5.

"Our survey revealed that many of our parents would keep more of their children at home if we went to Stage 5," Elizalde said, so she anticipates campus attendance will be even lower due to that.

“The fact that AISD wants to go back to school and business as usual couldn't fly in the face of our conditions where our conditions are anything but business as usual," Ken Zarifis, president of Education Austin, told KXAN.

“When the superintendent reopens schools—and that power was given solely to her by this board—when she makes the decision to reopen schools in such a dangerous environment, we believe that the whole action was irresponsible," Zarifis said, "There was no engagement with the union, there was no engagement with teachers, there was no engagement with anybody. This is a sole decision by the superintendent that is reckless and irresponsible."

AISD will continue to offer remote classes for any family that requests it through the end of the school year, Elizalde said. Remote learning approvals would be granted instantly. She also said COVID-19 rapid testing is available at every campus in the district for staff and students, and the district has made other modifications to classrooms to make them safer, such as plexiglass barriers between desks as an example.

“We do not take any of these decisions lightly. It weights very, very heavy on the fact that I know many people are going to be in complete disagreement with the manner in which we are continuing to keep out classrooms open for those who choose.”

Dr. Stephanie Elizalde, Austin Independent School District

Closing the district for an extra week, while an option Elizalde mentioned before Christmas, doesn't make sense for a couple reasons, she said.

If the district were to close, they'd have to make up the extra days in June and they simply wouldn't be able to do that. The TEA has a June 30 deadline to complete school years, and teacher contracts also have to end by June 30.

Zarifis said AISD's administration was "scapegoating" the TEA by blaming it for the district's decision to reopen schools.

“This is just egregious. There’s no reason for this. Yes there are lots of interest there's nothing that will be absolute, that will meet everybody's needs, but when 88 percent of the people in this community say we want virtual instruction and the superintendent is ignoring that, that's disappointing," Zarifis said.

Education Austin will ask the AISD Board of Trustees to undo the superintendent's decision, Zarifis told KXAN.

“We believe that this board needs to take action and to do everything in their power to reverse this decision.”

“I’m going to continue to reiterate: we’re going to do everything we can—as we did during the first semester—to be as safe as possible. Wherever we have concerns, we will not hesitate to close down a classroom or school to ensure we maintain healthy and safe environments for all of our staff members," Elizalde said.

Varsity athletics to continue

Elizalde elaborated on the decision to allow varsity athletic to continue while all other extracurricular activities will be suspended, saying the University Interscholastic League — the state's high school sports governing body — simply won't allow teams to suspend those seasons.

Elizalde also said parents have said kids would be missing out on scholarship opportunities if games were canceled.

While Escott suggested suspending all extracurricular activities, he said if that wasn't possible, that all the programs still going should have some kind of proactive testing system that would catch positive cases early enough to get them into quarantine to mitigate spread.

Escott has repeatedly said that's where community spread is happening amongst school-aged children — in extracurriculars, and not in classroom settings.

"We also know we have an outstanding team of nurses on our campuses, and they've done a great job of continuing to work with us on our contract tracing," Elizalde said.

Leander ISD said Thursday it will return to in-person classes as scheduled Jan. 5. Manor ISD also said it will open as planned on Jan. 4 for staff and students will return Jan. 5.