McMullen Co. ISD

McMullen County ISD

2021-2022

McMullen County ISD will open and operate our school in the 2021-2022 school year in a way that more closely resembles normal, pre-pandemic operations, rather than the 2020-2021 school year.  

Students, staff and families will experience many activities and routines that are synonymous with McMullen County ISD.  For the safety of our students and to maintain the ability to educate our students MCISD still has limits to the amount of adults who enter the building.  We will begin the school year with many activities planned but other activities are currently on hold.  The activities currently on hold such as the elementary award ceremonies, birthday parties, holiday celebrations, and field trips, etc. may be added as COVID-19 rates of infection in our surrounding area decline.

School Information and Procedures

School Times:

• Official class time begins at 7:59 and will end at 3:40.

• Doors will open on campus at 7:30 am. 

Visitors/Deliveries/Miscellaneous 

• Unless specifically invited to a meeting or attending an event scheduled at school, outside visitors will be limited.  

• At the current time there will be no visitors during lunch.

• All visitors must self-screen before entering the campus.  

Morning Procedures:

• All students may eat breakfast in the school cafeteria beginning at 7:30 am.

• Elementary

  • students will sit by class in the cafeteria and await their teacher picking them up to begin instruction.

  • students will receive their morning announcements in the cafeteria.

  • students may go to their teacher’s room in the morning for tutorials

  • students may take their breakfast to a teacher’s room for tutorials.

• Secondary

  • All junior high and high school students may go to the cafeteria to eat breakfast but after eating should report to their designated areas.  

  • Students in grades 9-12 should report to the new gym in the morning

  • Students may sit outside in the courtyard with the teacher on duty’s permission

  • All junior high students should report to the old gym when they arrive on campus.  

  • Secondary students may go to a teacher’s classroom for tutorials in the morning.

School Routines

• Classroom Routines

  • Elementary

    • Students will be able to work together in groups for instructional purposes but efforts will be made to limit direct contact between students.

    • Students will use hand sanitizer as they enter and exit the classroom

    • Students will be able to play on the playground with students in different grades.

    • Students will change classrooms this year and the teachers will remain in their primary classroom.  

  • Secondary

    • Students will use hand sanitizer when they enter the classroom.

    • Students will be able to go to the elementary side of the building for class requirements such as yearbook and teacher aide assignments.  

• Cafeteria

  • Students will start the year sitting 6 to a table in the cafeteria.

  • Students will be able to sit and eat with students from other grade levels.

  • The lunch schedule used for elementary during the 2020-2021 school year will continue to be used.  

  • Students will be able to get their own drinks out of the milk cooler and secondary students will be able to have refills from the drink fountain.  

Attendance and Exemptions 

• MCISD will regularly communicate the importance of staying home if ill.

• Parents should contact the school at (361) 274-2000 when their child is showing symptoms or is sick and can not come to school.

• Parents should provide a note or send in a doctor’s note to receive an excused absence.

• Students out ill with COVID-19 symptoms should remain home and follow CDC guidelines and MCISD protocols.  Students will be allowed to make up assignments in accordance with MCISD grading guidelines.

Remote Instruction

• District administration may allow a student to do remote instruction for short periods of time with a doctor’s note.  

• Should a student be out due to sickness or for any reason, the student may still participate in class via Google Classroom and Google Meets so long as the student arranges it with the teacher.

• If you would like to log into class and the teacher has not opened up the window, simply call the school at (361) 274-2000 and we will assist you with getting logged into class.  

• In most cases, students who miss school for extracurricular reasons will have opportunities to complete work remotely while they are gone.  

Training Protocols

• Student Training

  • Teachers will model and monitor proper hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette

  • The school nurse will train all students on proper hand washing protocols and respiratory etiquette.

• Staff

  • All employees shall know, understand, and practice methods to protect themselves and others from viruses at work.  

  • All employees must practice appropriate cleaning and disinfection, hand hygiene, and respiratory etiquette.

  • All employees shall regularly wash their hands when reporting to work and after using the restroom.  

Cleaning Procedures

• Each teacher will have access to district-provided hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies.

• Teachers and students will clean their desk (work area) every time there is a change of class or a return to a room.  

• Frequent clearing of high touch areas including restrooms and cafeterias will occur throughout the school day by MCISD custodial staff.

• When a child gets a virus that causes him/her to miss school, MCISD will conduct a deep cleaning of the affected area(s).

COVID-19 Related Systems

Students and Staff Who Have COVID-19

• School systems must exclude students and staff from attending school in person who are actively sick with COVID-19 or who have received a positive test result for COVID-19.

• Parents must ensure they do not send a child to school on campus if the child has COVID-19 symptoms or is test-confirmed with COVID-19 until the conditions for re-entry are met.  

Returning to School After COVID-19

• The ill student should return to school and end isolation once the following are met:

• 10 days from the start of the symptoms, AND

• Fever free for 24 hours without fever reducing medication, AND

• Symptoms have improved.

Face Coverings

• In accordance with Governor Greg Abbott’s Executive Order issued on May 18, 2021, face coverings will not be required at MCISD.

• Students, teachers, and parents may choose to wear face coverings.

• Face masks will be available by personal choice.

Close Contact

• Individuals living in the same house as someone who is confirmed to be COVID-19 positive are considered close contact and must stay at home during the recommended stay-at-home period.

• The district will not conduct formal contact tracing.

• If the district is made aware that a student is a close contact, the school system will notify the student’s parents.

• If a student is determined to be in close contact, a negative test shall be required to return to school.

• Each scenario may be different and other options might be available. Please contact the school administration for clarification and to ensure proper procedures are followed.

Close Contact Stay-At-Home Period Ends:

• Ten days have passed with no symptoms after exposure or

• If a student receives a negative result from a PCR acute infection test after the close contact exposure.

Self Check

• Parents, students, and staff should conduct a COVID-19 self screen before reporting to school every day. 

• If you have two or more of these symptoms you should stay home and see a doctor.

  • Chills

  • Fatigue

  • Muscle or body aches

  • Headache

  • New loss of taste or smell

  • Sore throat

  • Congestion or runny nose

  • Nausea or vomiting

  • Diarrhea

COVID-19 Testing:

• Students and staff will have the ability to be tested for COVID-19 on campus if the nurse identifies symptoms associated with COVID-19.

• Students may only be tested with parent permission.