Los Fresnos Consolidated Independent School District officials said Wednesday that students are invited to return to in-person, on-campus instruction as soon as they and their families feel comfortable doing so.
The district confirmed that recently relaxed social distancing guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for elementary school students likely would increase the trend toward in-person instruction. Officials said reducing the guideline for elementary students from six feet to three would in some cases reduce the waiting list to return to on-campus instruction.
With vaccinations against COVID-19 rising steadily, students’ return to classrooms has become a national priority, President Joe Biden said as soon as he took office. Biden quickly made teachers and school staff a priority group to receive the vaccine, but vaccinations for students still have not been approved. This week Texas joined several other states in making the vaccine available to all adults, in Texas’ case starting Monday.
Los Fresnos schools have been open for in-person instruction to all students who request it since Jan. 1, and with some restrictions since before the Christmas break.
As of Wednesday, the district said about 30 percent of its 10,487 students were attending on-campus instruction. LFCISD enrollment includes 4,283 elementary students, 2,478 in middle school and 3,182 in ninth through 12th grades.
All of the district’s teachers have been teaching on a remote and in-person basis from their classrooms since Oct. 5 under the district’s Start Safe Start Strong plan for reopening schools during the pandemic.
Among the district’s staff, many have been working from their offices since April 2020.
