Students in the Los Fresnos Consolidated Independent School District will return to campus April 12 for full-on, in-person instruction, the district announced in a letter to parents on Monday.
The date marks the first day of the year’s final marking period and represents the district’s best opportunity to safely return to fully in-person learning, Superintendent Gonzalo Salazar said. The letter does not mention distance learning as an option.
Salazar said in-person instruction is the best opportunity to reach every child among the district’s 10,487 students, many of whom have struggled with distance learning.
As of April 9 all teachers and staff will have received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, Salazar said. Safety protocols long in place as part of the district’s “Start Safe Finish Strong” reopening plan — mask-wearing, frequent hand-washing and social distancing — make it safer for students to return to campus.
“ The easiest thing to do would have been to finish out the year the way we were going, but we know it’s not the right thing to do. We want to do what’s right for our kids, and we feel that we can safely welcome back more kids to our campuses and provide them with the quality experience they deserve,” Salazar said.
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. All of the district’s teachers have been teaching on a remote and in-person basis from their classrooms since Oct. 5.
Salazar said educational research consistently shows that proximity is vitally important: the closer teachers are to the students, the higher the quality of the learning, and that immediate feedback raises the quality of the interaction and the learning.
“ We need to bring back more students so we can reach them all,” Salazar said. “Los Fresnos CISD is preparing to welcome more kids back for in-person learning to better serve them. It’s a passion of ours and we want to be true to our commitment to them.”
On some campuses, as many as 60 percent of students are attending for in-person learning, Salazar said, adding that he wants to see the number go higher.
As of last week, 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.
