The Texas Education Agency has issued updated guidance in light of Gov. Abbott’s decision to lift the statewide mask mandate and some other COVID-19 restrictions on Wednesday, March 10. Under this updated guidance from TEA, Spring ISD will continue its current practice of requiring all students, staff, teachers, and visitors to wear masks while in school or in district buildings.
As you may recall, our mask policy was approved last year by our Spring ISD Board of Trustees before the start of the school year and is part of our 2020-21 Code of Conduct (page 10 of pdf) that all parents are asked to review and sign each year. It is also part of our 2020-21 Student-Parent Handbook (page 99 of pdf).
Moving forward, we will continue to work with our Board of Trustees and county health officials to ensure our policies and procedures regarding COVID-19 reflect our unwavering commitment to protecting the health and safety of all of our students and staff.
We were also encouraged to learn that the Texas Department of State Health Services has announced that educators and school staff are immediately eligible for COVID-19 vaccines. As we noted in an email to staff earlier this week, all employees should register their interest for a vaccine at https://vacstrac.hctx.net/.
In order to identify themselves as school staff, for the first question Are you employed in or do you belong to any of the following areas?, employees should mark NONE. A drop-down box will then appear and they can identify themselves as School Staff and proceed with the registration process. As we get more information about other vaccine registration opportunities, we will let our staff know.
We want to thank our entire Spring ISD community for their support and flexibility during this unprecedented school year as we prioritize health and safety.