CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Corpus Christi Independent School District and most other area school districts announced Wednesday they will be extending how long their campuses remain closed due to coronavirus concerns.
Students in CCISD schools will not be returning to class anytime soon as their Spring Break has been extended once again. This time the decision has been made to try and start up schools again on April 14.
"We are taking the perspective of 38,000 students and how many people they come into contact daily in school, out of school, and it's just not worth the risk; and if we are trying to do what we have to do to prevent it or slow it down, then that's why we're making the decision we're making," CCISD Superintendent Dr. Roland Hernandez said.
Notice about the extended closure went out to parents Wednesday in an effort to warn them that they're going to have to figure out their child care arrangements.
"We're trying to get the word out as early as possible so they have that time to make the adjustments to their normal routine," Hernandez said.
Students are going to be given school work to do at home. Officials are still trying to figure out how to do that.
"We are in a good position as a district in being able to serve our students with distance learning, remote learning. We're kind of assessing that right now," Hernandez said. "We've put many instructional activities and lessons and made them available on our district website."
State Rep. Todd Hunter met with 3News Wednesday to talk about the extended school closures. He is hoping that during this health crisis, South Texans will show the same calmness and resolve they showed during Hurricane Harvey.
"I support all of them in providing public health, safety and education," Hunter said.
Hernandez did said that no decision has been reached concerning proms and graduation. There has also been no word yet on whether the school year will be extended into the summer or not.
Read the full news release from the CCISD below:
In order to help safeguard students, staff and the community, CCISD schools and offices will be closed to the public until at least Tuesday, April 14. If it is safe to do so, the district will reopen earlier. If health officials continue to need everyone’s help to preserve health, CCISD will extend the closure.
In the coming days, CCISD will provide more learning opportunities for students. In addition to helping keep students on grade level, it is the district’s hope that offering lessons will help provide some comforting structure to the day.
In a phone message and social media post to students on Wednesday, Superintendent Dr. Roland Hernandez had the following message for CCISD’s high school seniors: “I am so very sorry that your final semester has been interrupted. I feel your hurt that proms and graduations may be affected. We still hope that does not happen, but we must be prepared that it might. I want you to know how proud I am of each of you. We will get through this difficult time, and your future remains bright.”
CCISD will continue conducting district business, be that remotely or in the workplace. The district will follow health officials’ guidelines in terms of group size and social distancing, as well as continue to disinfect work areas. Employees are asked to follow their supervisor’s instructions so the district can continue serving the community. CCISD’s human resources department is in the process of setting up a FAQ to help keep employees informed of procedures during our temporary change in operations.
CCISD will continue to update the general FAQ as well as support staff, students and families throughout the pandemic. We thank everyone for the patience and compassion they have shown during this challenging time.
For the latest coronavirus updates, click here.
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