Leander ISD drafting phase-in return option for students

LEANDER, Texas - The sound of a trumpet that rang through a Cedar Park neighborhood came from a garage and from Nathan Harward.

The Cedar Park High School Junior lost his band season to COVID-19 and has also been banished to the garage so his siblings can do classes online.

"When you have a full house of kids trying to learn, and you hear a loud trumpet, it’s hard to learn, I'll be in the garage for the rest of the semester," said Harward.

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Nathan is setting up his own online work area for a possible even longer stay. 

"Obviously I want to go back, I miss seeing my friends and stuff, but it is what it is, I suppose, being in my household three people that are high risk of getting it, and dying from it, so COVID, I don’t know,” said Harward.

Leander ISD students like Nathan will eventually get a chance to return to their different campuses and classrooms, but not all at once.

A marquee at Cypress Elementary school reads: “We love you, we miss you.” It may be one of the first school information signs to change. Leander ISD has drafted a three-step phased-in return to school option plan. The school board will consider it Thursday.

Phase 1 begins on September 8th and would limit in-person classes to Special Ed, Pre-k, Kindergarten, first, sixth, and ninth grades. The in-person class option will also be available to students with no internet access and the children of district staff.

"Knowing kids that are in Special Ed, they are going to have difficulties with some of the new guidelines like masks and learning how to socially isolate, and so I kind of do think that maybe giving them some space on how to do that well before they integrate everybody, would give everybody a chance of having success with this instead of just being, herding kids,” said Mary Kelly who plans on keeping her kids online for now.

Phase 2 launches September 21st with in-person classes for second, seventh, and tenth graders. Phase 3 kicks in on September 28th for third, eighth and eleventh grades. After that, seniors and all other students wishing to return can use the option.

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"Our local health departments recommend phasing in a percentage of students that wish to return to campus learning over the course of several weeks. This allows us to emphasize safety measures and make adjustments where necessary to ensure a smooth transition for subsequent grade levels,” said LISD Spokesperson Matt Mitchell.

To get into a school building parents and students will have to start the day by completing a self-assessment health check submitted through a not-yet-out app. The protocol for a positive test of a student or staff member is also still being worked out. It may only involve shutting down part of campus for deep cleaning, and quarantines for close contact cases.

For more news on Central Texas schools and COVID-19, click here.