In keeping with recent guidance changes from Commissioner of Education, Texas Education Agency and state leadership, the Victoria Independent School District’s return to school calendar has not changed.
The Texas Education Agency announced updates to its guidelines Tuesday; therefore, VISD’s return-to-school plan will remain as scheduled. Residents are reminded that remote classes will begin Aug. 18, and the return to in-person instruction will begin after Sept. 7.
Under TEA guidance, every school district must resume in-person classes within eight weeks of its scheduled start date for the semester. VISD’s proposed timeline for restarting classes remains in compliance with this regulation.
VISD continues to remind its students and their families to prepare for the virtual return to school on Aug. 18. The district will provide regular updates about return-to-school plans through its website, social media channels and email messaging system, said Shawna Currie, VISD director of communications.
“We’ll be updating our COVID-19 website with dates, instructional plans and more,” Currie said. “Please continue to monitor and share information posted at this site.”
The TEA previously stated that schools would be allowed to delay in-person instruction past the state’s limit if ordered to do so by a local health authority. Since that time, the Commissioner of Education revised his guidance for school district reopening schedules, jeopardizing funding for any district that complies with such control orders. In response to this change, Victoria Health Authority John McNeill today signed an order terminating his previous order that required schools to suspend in-person classes through Sept. 7.
Neither this change to the local order nor the change in state guidelines add any restrictions to or impact on VISD’s return-to-school plan.
VISD continues to work collaboratively with local and state public health and education officials and City of Victoria and Victoria County leaders to actively monitor developments about the coronavirus.
For up-to-date local information about COVID-19, visit www.victoriatxoem.org or call the COVID-19 hotline at 361-580-5796.
For information about VISD’s return-to-school plan, visit www.visd.net/apps/pages/covid/return-to-school.