School starts Monday — virtually. Here's what El Paso parents need to know

El Paso Times - 8/14/2020

The end-of-summer exclamation point that once was the first day of school has turned into a looming question mark as families face educating their children in a global pandemic.

There will be no slinging of backpacks over shoulders or slugging off to classrooms. East Side to West Side, from the Barrio Chamizal to Kern Place, parents across El Paso will confront the first -- virtual -- school day of the 2020-2021 school year in living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens or one-room apartments with a mix of anxiety and relief.

And a lot of questions.

"We know that everyone is anxious about the start of the school year because no one has ever done this before -- teachers, parents, students," said Melissa Martinez, spokeswoman for the El Paso Independent School District. "Our mantra is to practice patience. Everyone is in new territory."

Across the country, school districts are grappling with how to safely educate millions of children as COVID-19 continues to ravage many communities. Texas is considered a hot spot, with some of the highest average daily new cases per capita in the country; El Paso has had more than 200 new cases every day in recent weeks.

More: EPISD, YISD join other El Paso districts seeking to extend virtual learning into October

The stubbornly high rate of transmission prompted the city to obtain a waiver from the Texas Education Agency for the El Paso Independent School District to keep its 54,000 students home and learning virtually for the first eight weeks of the school year.

As part of the waiver to TEA, district administrators set a target for the community positivity rate -- the rate at which COVID-19 tests return positive -- at 5% or lower for 14 consecutive days.

Parents in El Paso are clearly worried about sending their kids to school buildings even as the prospect of keeping kids on task in busy households is daunting for many.

Nearly 41,000 parents responded to EPISD's survey on preferred type of instruction. Just 6% of respondents wanted five-day-a-week, in-person instruction. Thirty-eight percent requested virtual instruction for fall, while 32% requested the combination in-person and virtual "hybrid" model with two days of in-person instruction.

The district is awaiting another 12,000 responses from parents who haven't yet filled out the survey.

Teachers are worried, too.

"The expectation of parents when they send their kids to us is that we’re going to take care of them," said Norma De La Rosa, president of the El Paso Teachers Association, a union representing all EPISD employees. "That responsibility weighs very heavily on us as teachers. If we were to go back to the classroom... and one of them gets sick, can you imagine how that teacher will feel?"

Here is information on coping with the transition.

Is Fall 2020 going to be like Spring?

The short answer is no.

EPISD went virtual in late March in response to the developing COVID-19 pandemic. Schools staggered schedules to accommodate families with multiple children and few tablets; instruction was reduced to four hours or less. The district suspended grades and replaced them with a binary "progress/no progress" for elementary students and "pass/no pass" for older students.

"In the spring, we were catapulted into an emergency situation literally over night," Martinez, the EPISD spokeswoman said. "At that time, it was expected this was a temporary thing. It was triage. Now this is a long-term situation."

EPISD has revamped its virtual platform using Schoology, the application recommended by the Texas Education Agency, and created 8-to-3 schedules for most students, with breaks away from the screen, "modeled after a normal school day," Martinez said.

Every student in the district who wants a tablet will be loaned one, although parents -- who are liable if the device is damaged or lost -- are able to opt out and may choose to use a personal device.

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Teachers will grade students on their assignments in the traditional manner, numerically.

To give families flexibility during an unprecedented time, Martinez said teachers will take attendance in a few different ways: during virtual face-to-face time, when students log on to Schoology for their assignments, or by connecting with a teacher in other ways.

"You have several options to be counted as attended," she said. "We are going to be very flexible."

What is Schoology?

Schoology is the virtual platform teachers will use to make and receive assignments and communicate with students. It's a free application that has separate functionality for students and parents, who can track their children's work.

EPISD has used Schoology for years as a supplemental virtual education tool, so parents with older children in the district may find it familiar.

Teachers have the option to teach their virtual classes using video calling systems by Schoology, Webex or Zoom. Martinez said most teachers are opting for Zoom, which parents can download for free.

Teachers at all grade levels will be calling, texting or emailing parents through the weekend to provide orientations on their approach to virtual classes.

Why hasn't my child received a tablet?

The EPISD school board approved the last round of MacBook Air computer purchases in June. Given the turnaround time, the district expects that every student will have access to a device by Sept. 7 -- three weeks after school starts.

For parents who completed registration after July 27, the handover of tablets or computers may be delayed as schools reassess their number of students.

"We’re working around the clock to get that done," Martinez said, adding that some schools will continue handing out tablets over the weekend.

For those families who don't have a tablet or computer at home and need the district-issued device, schools may be able to loan a temporary tablet, Martinez said. Parents should let teachers know they need additional accommodations, she said.

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What if I work full-time?

Martinez said that flexibility is built into the district's plans for the new school year.

After the virtual trial run in the spring, district leaders heard feedback from parents that their children didn't get enough face time with teachers; others shared concerns that the four-hour model would leave their kids behind on learning.

That's why the new schedules run for the full school day, with time for independent work away from the screen, she said.

But parents who worry that they can't be available to their kids until after 6 p.m. will be able to use the Schoology platform to access assignments -- and ensure their child's school attendance -- even after 3 p.m.

More questions? Here's how to troubleshoot

EPISD has an "alpha team" set up to quickly respond to parent questions.

Text 915-526-6767 with the parent's name, child's name as enrolled, child's student ID and question. The district's team will provide an answer or connect parents to the right person, Martinez said.

Also, as of Monday, the main phone numbers at every school in the district -- which have been going unanswered, with schools closed -- will be forwarded to a secretary or clerk working remotely.

Many of EPISD's decisions regarding the virtual year are governed by state guidelines. The Texas Education Agency issued updated guidance for school districts in July and schools have been scrambling to comply.

"It's fair to say these are unique challenges with this school year," Martinez said. "There are a lot of things that both parents and teachers and students are grappling with right now that are unprecedented."

Lauren Villagran can be reached at lvillagran@elpasotimes.com.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: School starts Monday -- virtually. Here's what El Paso parents need to know

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