By Jack Orloff

Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde used two virtual town halls Wednesday and Thursday to encourage families to “do what science says we need to do” and wear a mask in the classroom. 

The town halls took place Aug. 4 and 5 in English and Spanish, respectively. While Dr. Elizalde and her leadership team were at the Performing Arts Center, audience members were able to ask questions via zoom or the chat on Facebook live. 

"We want to partner with our parents," Elizalde said. "We know that all our parents want to do what is best for their child and all of our children and what is best for all of our staff members who they adore. We are asking everyone; we need everyone to wear masks so we can protect others."

The CDC recommends students learn in person, and Austin ISD is moving forward with measures to reduce the spread of COVID including contact tracing, rapid testing and more. Masks are mandatory for all students and staff this year in Austin ISD.

"Schools are the safest environment for kids to be in, and we know that, and the research shows that," said Alexandra Copeland, director of health services for Austin ISD. "We did not have any outbreaks in our classrooms last year, so we are keeping with those health and safety protocols."

Cafeteria and Classroom 

On the subject of lunch, AISD will utilize all campus spaces, including the outdoors. 

"We do plan on having lunch in the classroom or leveraging outdoor space," Chief of Schools Anthony Mays said. "The guidance that we provide to our principals, as well as our teachers, is that we will have assigned seats for contact tracing to try to mitigate the spread of COVID-19."

Elizalde said schools will also use tools available to them to improve air circulation and ventilation in the classrooms, including 

“​​Every classroom will have an air purifier,” she said. “We have a little more than 5,000 teachers, and we will have 5,000 of those air purifiers.”

Virtual Setting

When it came to virtual learning, Elizalde reiterated that teachers will teach only in the classroom or virtually.

In the virtual program, a separate teacher will work with students with instructional hours staying the same. Students will learn both synchronously and asynchronously. The panel also discussed smaller class sizes for virtual settings and how that will benefit teachers.

To watch the Town Hall meeting, please go to the AISD Facebook page and click videos. For more information on virtual options and protocols for the fall, please visit www.aisd.org.