In a video style address to the staff of Keller ISD, Superintendent Dr. Rick Westfall clarified several areas that many faculty, parents, and students may be wondering.
Online Instruction
Grades, report cards, and progress reports on hold. Any online resources and coursework that become available to students in the near future will not be subject to being graded. Dr. Westfall has asked for all teachers to touch base with students but no official class instruction is required at this time. Technology is expected to be utilized during this extended break, but the official classwork process is still being discussed. Teachers who have tools that they are ready to utilize may reach out to students and give them material to work with that will go ungraded.
Graduation
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended no gatherings of over 50 people for the next eight weeks. They announced it on Sunday, March 15 which means it is set to expire on May 10, the week of Prom and the week before graduation.
“Any prom, graduation, it’s 100% dependent on whether we’re open,” Dr. Westfall said. “If the recommendations don’t expire, then things will look different at the end of this year.”
Details regarding testing for graduation requirements are yet to come and will be announced as the information becomes available.
AP Testing
AP Testing is not under state jurisdiction, however College Board has made some recent announcements as they work to combat the closures.
“The AP Program is developing resources to help schools support student learning during extended closures, as well as a solution that would allow students to test at home, depending on the situation in May. Additional information will be posted by March 20,” according to the College Board website. “We will announce portfolio submission deadline extensions for AP 2-D Art and Design, 3-D Art and Design, Computer Science Principles, Drawing, Research, and Seminar courses by March 20. Schools do not need to call AP Services for Educators to request these extensions.”
To see all current announcements and future announcements click here.
State Waivers
Keller ISD will not be required to make up days missed due to school closure because of COVID-19 concerns given that some instructional support is given to students.
Keller ISD will be requesting a waiver from the Texas Education Agency (TEA) so the instructional days lost would not have to be made up. Each school district will be required to show some degree of instructional support in order to be granted the waiver. The KISD Curriculum & Instruction team is working hard now to determine what that will look like, especially for the youngest learners.
A couple of other key points that may help answer questions:
- All Keller ISD buildings are closed at this time.
- All extracurriculars and UIL events are canceled for the month of March with future events to be determined.
- For information on the KISD Resources Offered During COVID Crisis, click here.
- For information on requesting VOE documents, click here.
- STAAR K-8 testing and STAAR EOC testing has been canceled.
- Richardson ISD and Dallas ISD have closed their schools “indefinitely.” However, Tarrant County has not given this advice for schools in their area as of this publication. Keller ISD and other area districts will be closely following the Tarrant County Health Department recommendations.
- The transcript site ScribOrder will reopen 9 a.m. Monday, March 16. All transcript requests will continue to be processed with the exception of in-person pick-up.
The situation surrounding COVID-19 is uncharted territory for not only Keller ISD, but also school districts across the nation. As new policy is enacted, the Talon along with Keller ISD will continually update students and their families about the new developments.
“We are literally building the airplane while it’s in the air,” Dr. Westfall said. “We’re going to lean on our local health department [and] health officials to help us understand better what we need to be doing.”
For more information and to continually see Keller ISD updates regarding school closure due to COVID-19 see here.