Staff and students participating in on-campus learning must conduct daily COVID-19 screening at home prior to entering a BISD facility. Parents, students that have the following symptoms should not report to school. 

• Temperature 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher
• Sore throat
• Uncontrolled coughing
• Abdominal pain or diarrhea
• Loss of taste or smell

If a student begins to exhibit symptoms at school, the student will be isolated from other students until the student’s parent or guardian can pick the child up from school. Students will not be permitted to return to school until the student meets the re-entry criteria in this guidance.

As a reminder for students returning to on-campus learning, all staff and students in grades pre K-12 must wear face coverings while on campus and less than six feet apart. All students will be encouraged to engage in frequent hand washing and hand sanitizer use throughout the day. Please refer to the BISD Re-Entry Plan for detailed information.

Students will continue to receive and submit assignments through Google Classroom from their teacher(s) for those parents opting to remain in remote instruction.  Teachers will strive to include brief lesson videos that students may access at a time convenient for them, which helps support the concepts' learning.  Once students begin going back face-to-face, the current live Zoom schedules will be altered.  Depending on the class structure and type of lessons, teachers may elect to broadcast a live lesson at specific times in the day. Teachers may provide live "office hours" during the week where remote learning students can connect with the teacher to ask questions or receive clarification, or upload a recording of the class instruction within Google Classroom.  Remote learning students will be required to complete and submit work through Google Classroom and may also be assigned tasks and required time devoted to working on district online learning programs each week.

The District Uniform Policy will be in place for the 2020-21 school year.  We encourage all parents to begin the year with uniforms. However, the policy will be strictly enforced starting at the beginning of the second nine-weeks grading period on October 19, 2020. 

Transportation is available for students who traditionally qualify to ride a bus once the transition to face-to-face begins September 21. Students must wear masks and use hand sanitizer upon entering and exiting the bus. When possible, bus windows will remain lowered to help with the circulation of air. A thorough cleaning of buses occurs after drop-offs at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. The cleaning consists of disinfecting high-touched areas such as bus seats, knobs and door handles utilizing electrostatic sprayers. Parents are also encouraged to bring students to school if possible, as social distancing will be limited on buses. 

Students will practice social distancing while in class as desks will be portioned out to use the space in the room. Students will be encouraged throughout the day to wash their hands or use hand sanitizer when appropriate.

With staff and administrators' guidance, students will practice social distancing while purchasing food and eating lunch at all campuses. Students will eat lunch in the cafeteria or in their classroom to practice social distancing based on the campus layout. The meals are pre-packaged in Togo containers, and social distancing markers for standing in line and lunchroom seating are marked at each facility.

BISD consistently collaborates with our local health officials about public health conditions in our area to make the best decision for our community and students returning to school.  Our students' transition back to school and full-day instruction is always contingent upon local health conditions and the impact of COVID 19 in our community.  

Our BISD on-campus families should be prepared that there may be some times that our local health conditions may be hazardous for students to continue on-campus learning safely throughout the pandemic. At such time, students will transition to virtual learning until conditions improve to maintain instructional continuity. Parents should expect to receive information about changes such as this from the campus and the school district. Please make sure your contact information is up to date. 

To mitigate the spread of COVID-19, all BISD facilities are closed to the public. Should a visit to the campus be necessary, we ask individuals to call ahead and make an appointment. All visitors allowed on campus must wear a face covering. Before entering a BISD facility, visitors will be required to attest they are not exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 nor lab-confirmed with COVID-19. Any visitor who shows signs or is lab-confirmed positive for COVID-19 may not enter the campus until they meet the District re-entry criteria.

BISD is committed to assisting our families in making decisions that fit their unique needs as we navigate the challenges presented by this pandemic. Parents, please ensure that you have the most updated information in our communication solutions to stay connected. We want to thank our parents and community for their grace and patience as we work through ever-changing circumstances while transitioning our students back to campus.

Google Classroom, the platform we have been using throughout the initial remote instructional period, will continue to be utilized by teachers.  They will upload brief lesson videos explaining the concepts as well as the lesson assignments and resources in Google Classroom.  They will also provide live office hours several times each week where virtual students can check in and ask questions to their teacher.  Depending on the structure of the class and feasibility of live broadcasting, some teachers may elect to show classroom instruction live at specific times during the week for their virtual students to access.   

Please note:  It is not encouraged for virtual learning students to spend hours in front of a screen.  Please ensure that students have opportunities to be active away from the screen through reading, writing, creative activities such as art and music, active/imaginative play, and outdoor activities.

Students opting for virtual instruction in an asynchronous model do not have to follow a strict schedule of instruction that replicates school hours, but they are required to devote a certain amount of time each day toward instruction. For PreK - 5th grade, students are required to have a minimum of 180 minutes (3 hours) of instructional engagement each day.  6th - 12th grade students should have a minimum of instructional engagement 240 minutes (4 hours) each day.  Instructional engagement is defined as a combination of accessing instruction in Google Classroom, viewing the uploaded lesson videos, working on the provide assignments, working on online instructional  programs, reading independently, and attending any virtual office hours or Zooms hosted by the teacher.

The district feels that it is in the best interest of your child to maintain instructional continuity and consistency, particularly in a year as challenging as this one.   Therefore, we are striving to ensure students continue learning with the teachers they have been working with already this school year.  In some elementary grade levels, campuses may elect to provide a teacher who is fully devoted to virtual instruction due to the nature of instruction with  younger children.  Your campus principal will share this information with parents opting for virtual instruction.

Yes, teachers will be providing the same assignments and work for both the virtual and face-to-face students.  The expectation is for teachers to continue to load assignments into Google Classroom so that all students can maintain using this platform.  Both virtual and face-to-face students will benefit from accessing the instructional videos posted in their Google Classroom.

The district will publish brief Parent Learning Selection Forms approximately two weeks before the end of each grading period.  It is important that you complete the form to let the campus know if you will be returning to face-to-face instruction.  Whichever learning option you select, you are required to stick with it for the entire grading period.