PORT ISABEL — As summer comes to an end, many students around the Valley are returning to the classroom for a new year of learning.
Point Isabel ISD’s 2021-2022 school year begins Monday with in-person instruction.
Masks will be required at all indoor school district facilities and while on school district transportation.
This decision was made by the school district during a school board meeting on Aug. 16.
During the meeting, the school board unanimously passed a resolution giving the school district the ability to make local decisions regarding COVID-19.
According to school district personnel, face shields will be available for all students and staff as an extra safety measure.
Additionally, hand sanitizers and handwashing stations that provide students with opportunities to frequently wash their hands have been installed at each of the district’s four campuses.
Some other campus safety measures include — temperature checks for students, staff and visitors upon entering the building, routinely cleaning high-touch surfaces and having social distancing floor decals and posters throughout schools.
According to Point Isabel ISD Superintendent Theresa Capistran, the goal of the school district is and always has been to provide a safe educational environment for students and staff.
“Board members and administration, as members of our community, are best situated to assess the needs of our students, staff and parents in creating such an environment,” she added.
On Thursday, the school district filed an application for a temporary restraining order, temporary injunction and declaratory judgment against the governor and attorney general of Texas.
“Texas law and tradition has always recognized the importance of local control for small independent school districts,” Capistran said. “Local control allows parents and the community to have instant access to decision-makers and allows the board and administration to quickly react to changes in circumstances.”
According to Capistran, the COVID-19 pandemic of the last 18 months has proven that to be true.
“The provisions of Governor Abbott’s Executive Order GA-38 are prohibiting our school board and administration from taking the steps we feel are necessary to keep our children, staff members and community safe,” Capistran said.
She added that through this lawsuit, the school district is respectfully requesting that the courts reinstate the laws and authority that Executive Order GA-38 prohibits and restore the authority to keep schools safe to the people of Texas and their locally elected officials.
The Texas Supreme Court late Thursday night declined to block restraining orders against Abbott’s mask mandate ban.
To view the school district’s return to school plan, visit https://tinyurl.com/c83yz55x.
