SAN BENITO — As summer enters its final stretch, school districts are continuing to make preparations for the upcoming school year.
The San Benito CISD Board of Trustees approved a new 2020-2021 school calendar during a meeting held on Tuesday.
Classes will begin with remote instruction on Sept. 8.
In light of the situation with the pandemic, the new date was proposed to the board by Superintendent of Schools Dr. Nate Carman.
“Last weekend, I think we had three days in a row where Cameron County reported over 1,000 individuals per day that tested positive. I understand some of that was probably a backlog in some testing,” Carman said during the meeting. “When you see those kinds of numbers, you just think that maybe we’re still not quite ready to get back into buildings.”
Carman said essentially, the school district would finish the school year almost two weeks later into June.
“All of the instructional days would be there and that would then push the live instruction, assuming the board approves the waiver for the second four weeks of remote instruction, it would push our live instruction start to Nov. 4 at the earliest,” Carman said.
To view the new school calendar, visit https://tinyurl.com/ y5ss49cq.
The school district’s reopening plan for the upcoming school year was also approved by the board. The plan was created by a task force composed of the school district’s principals, head nurse, directors and assistant superintendents.
The plan addresses phases and timelines for reopening in response to COVID-19. It also addresses items, such as safety measures for students, staff and visitors, curriculum and instruction, sports and extra curricular planning.
A new look
The Sullivan Environmental Science Academy and the high school’s entrances received a facelift.
The board of trustees accepted certificates of substantial completion for the schools’ facades during the meeting.
“We have conducted walkthroughs on these and we believe they meet the threshold for substantial completion,” Carman said. “These spaces turned out very well. They look good in the front of the schools and they’re functional inside.”
