PORT ISABEL — Out of an abundance of caution, this school district decided it was best to delay students return to instruction to try to ensure a safe transition from the holidays to its campus.
During an emergency meeting held on Monday, the Point Isabel ISD School Board voted to extend the Winter Break for students through Friday, Jan. 8.
Instruction will resume on Monday, Jan. 11.
The school district’s Child Nutrition Department will continue its Curbside Meals program Wednesday through next week at Derry and Garriga Elementary Schools, as well as at the Port Isabel High School.
The decision to revise the school’s calendar was made due to rising COVID-19 numbers and because people have most likely traveled and gathered during the holidays.
According to Point Isabel ISD Superintendent of Schools Theresa Capistran, the school district has been notified these past couple of weeks of several staff members that have either tested positive or are currently quarantined because they came in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
“We received the numbers from the county and those numbers identify COVID-19 positives on a daily basis by city and these past couple of weeks we have seen an increase in COVID-19 for our district area, the Laguna Madre area,” Capistran said. “Safety and the well-being of all of our staff and all of our students is a number one priority.”
According to Capistran, the revised calendar will allow a safer transition and provide the district an opportunity to make any other necessary changes.
Capistran said the extension of students’ Winter Break will not take away any holidays or add any additional days to the school district’s calendar because a sufficient amount of instructional minutes was built into the prior calendar.
“Our staff will be working this week. Our staff went in today, they are working alone in isolation,” Capistran said on Monday. “If they have meetings, they’re having meetings similar to the way that we’re having this right now and just doing everything that we possibly can to keep everyone safe within their area.”
According to Capistran, the extra days will provide staff with more time to work on their lesson and curriculum plans, as well as get a good jumpstart on these six weeks.
“I’m ecstatic about keeping our community safe of course, first of all, and that the teachers will be able to use this time for additional planning,” Point Isabel ISD School Board Secretary Cecilia Castillo said. “I think this is a great move on part of the district because we want to keep everyone safe.”
