.png)
San Marcos Consolidated ISD is suspending normal school operations through April 5, superintendent Michael Cardona announced in a district letter.
San Marcos Consolidated ISD is suspending normal school operations through April 5, Superintendent Michael Cardona announced in a district letter.
The district made the move to suspend normal operations after Hays County and the City of San Marcos declared a State of Disaster on Sunday in response to growing concerns about COVID-19.
“I know San Marcos families are searching for answers regarding the coronavirus,” Cardona said. “I am keenly aware that our decisions impact students and their extended family who may be susceptible to illness. My team is in daily contact with local, county and state officials. My focus is to ensure that our students, staff and families are safe. Right now, try not to worry about academics, the calendar, graduation or trips. In a time like this, it is more important to take care of one another by practicing healthy habits and social distancing. Everything else will take care of itself."
According to Cardona, the school district has created four stages of response: — Stage 1: Daily operational procedures with intensified sanitizing protocols; all students and staff report to school. Stage 2: All staff report to work. Parents have the choice to send children to school or keep them at home without penalty. Stage 3: All teachers and all students stay at home and SMCISD moves to at-home learning. Essential staff reports to work. The Superintendent’s Cabinet will determine essential staff and will contact the employees. Stage 4: All students and all staff stay home and SMCISD would not be in operation. There would be no instruction during this time.
Cardona moved SMCISD into Stage 3 response to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
“Please understand that this is the minimum that school may be suspended,” Cardona said. “The reality is that this is not a short-term solution and more information will be forthcoming.”
The district is currently working to finalize logistics on distance learning options for students. Additionally, the district will begin providing meals for students and adults at the following times and locations on March 23:
- Breakfast: 8 a.m.-9:30 a.m. (Travis Elementary and San Marcos HS)
- Lunch: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. (Travis Elementary, San Marcos HS, and Redwood Baptist Church)
- Anyone 18 years old and under are free. Adult meals will be $3.50.
“This is a rapidly-developing issue and continues to change daily,” Cardona said. “We remain in close communication with health authorities and we will communicate an update with our community as quickly as possible. I want to thank our students, parents, teachers, administrators and central office staff members as we deal with this unprecedented issue.”
SMCISD Board of Trustees President John McGlothin commented on behalf of the board, stating that the trustees are in full support of the decision to suspend school and transition to distance learning until district schools can be re-open safely.
"It has been a terrible 3 days, but Superintendent Cardona met individually with board members and has communicated non-stop to insure we are all working together on this unprecedented public health emergency," McGlothlin said. "I anticipate this will be very challenging for our families and staff, but the district will do everything possible to mitigate the impacts by providing meal pick up for the kids, by ramping up our distance learning capacity, and by insuring that staff does not experience pay disruptions. The board is going to meet this Thursday morning to allocate all the resources necessary to achieve these goals. I ask all local employers to work with our kids' parents to insure jobs are secure and hours are flexible in this unprecedented time. And I hope the whole community treats this as the emergency that it is so that we can re-open the schools as soon as possible."
Alongside SMCISD, Hays CISD, Dripping Springs ISD and Wimberley ISD have also suspended classes through April 5. San Marcos Academy was set to have an executive council meeting to decide on what action it would take in response to COVID-19. The meeting began after press time on Monday.
Additional reporting by Stephanie Gates
