During the June 11 board briefing, Dallas ISD administrators discussed the campus-reentry safety protocols and the potential education models for the start of the 2020–2021 school year.

Dallas ISD has developed a handbook of safety protocols that will be implemented at every campus during the upcoming school year. Assistant Superintendent of School Leadership Leslie Stephens shared the first draft of this cross-departmental effort.

“We imagined ourselves in the life of a teacher and then in the life of a student,” Stephens said. “We took into consideration all the county guidelines, the CDC recommendations, and what we’ve seen in other countries or other states that they've been looking at. That’s the approach we’ve taken.”

Some of the new guidelines include:

• daily temperature checks for all students and staff
• potential staggered arrival times
• marked one-way traffic in hallways
• bathroom monitoring to avoid overcrowding
• plexiglass dividers in the cafeteria and classrooms
• mobile hand-sanitizer stations for every classroom
• face shields for classroom usage
• masks provided to all students, employees, and campus visitors
• increased safety precautions in office area
• social distance rules for recess and PE

Education Evolution: Learning is moving forward

The district is considering three learning models for the 2020-2021 school year:

• Traditional in-class instruction held under normal circumstances. Campuses will operate under strict safety protocols;
• Distance learning that occurs outside of a Dallas ISD facility. Learning plans and a schedule are created by a teacher for a class;
• A hybrid model that combines the best of face-to-face and distance learning’

Before moving forward on which model to implement, the district is waiting for guidance from the Texas Education Agency on whether virtual learning will be funded, as well as information on how many kids and teachers will be allowed in one classroom.

The first day of school will be Aug. 17 and, regardless of the academic model, grading is expected to continue as normal.