College Station ISD School Board Approves Calendar Changes & Discusses Instructional Formats For 2020-21 School Year

College Station school board members have adjusted next year’s school calendar.

Click HERE to read and download the updated College Station ISD calendar for the 2020-21 school year.

Action taken during Tuesday night’s meeting moves the first day of school to August 13th instead of the 18th.

And there will be three more instructional days. One is in October, another in January, and one in February.

CSISD administrators also updated the board on four types of instruction that students might have next year. Under consideration, are traditional classrooms, on-site with an online option, a hybrid combination of in school with at home, and all instruction taking place at home.

And CSISD employees could be getting a pay raise. A monthly update on next year’s budget included adding approximately $1.5 million dollars towards salaries and benefits of current employees.

Additional information from College Station ISD:

Approval of changes to the 2020-2021 school calendar: The Board approved an updated calendar for the 2020-2021 school year, which changed six professional development days to instructional days. Three of the days changed are at the beginning of the year and moved the first day of school from Tuesday, August 18 to Thursday, August 13. In addition, October 9, January 5 and February 16 have been changed to instructional days.

Discussion regarding instructional planning scenarios for the 2020-2021 school year: Chief Academic Officer Dr. Penny Tramel gave the board a presentation regarding different instructional scenarios for the upcoming school year. Currently, a working group is developing plans for whatever the district might encounter when school starts up in August. Four scenarios are being discussed:

• On-site (Traditional) Classroom Learning: The discussion around this option is how to incorporate more digital (Schoology) learning opportunities while in the traditional setting so everyone is better prepared in the event of another closure.

• On-site with Virtual Option: This model assumes some people will not want to send their children back to school even if it is completely open. CSISD is exploring how to offer a virtual option for those students who might choose not to return even if schools are open.

• Hybrid: The hybrid option could be used if school buildings are allowed to host students, but at a limited capacity, which would require an alternating schedule for students. This scenario discussion revolved around how to provide students equal amounts of time in on-site learning, while supplementing the time they are not there with at-home learning.

• At-Home Learning: Much of the framework for at-home learning is in place, but CSISD is discussing how to get more interaction and direct instruction should the district have to employ this model in the future.

Discussion regarding 2020-2021 budget development process: Led by Chief Financial Officer Amy Drozd, the board discussed the 2020-2021 budget for the third consecutive month. The board reviewed a draft of revenue and expenditure numbers. These current numbers, based on the current school finance system, reflect an overall deficit budget of approximately $2.763 million. Although a compensation plan has not been recommended for the 2020-21 school year, the current projected budget includes an additional $1.5 million for salaries and benefits for current employees. CSISD will continue to review staffing and budget requests, monitor and adjust revenue projections, and update expenditure projections over the next two months. The 2020-2021 budget and tax rate will be adopted at the August board meeting.

Screen shot from College Station ISD.