Parents/Guardians:

When district leaders gathered to begin planning for the 2020-2021 school year, we knew we were in uncharted territory with a situation where our “knowns” and “unknowns” were changing rapidly. What we learned in Spring 2020 was that our plan moving forward needed to allow for quick pivots as external conditions shifted - all without losing focus on our values and commitment to each and every student. Out of a multi-step, design thinking process came the Response Plan outlined on this website.

Early in the process we established these five guiding principles to direct our planning:

1. Belton ISD will provide exceptional learning experiences for each and every student.
   
   
2. Students and staff safety are the top priority.
   
   
3. Listening to the voices of our students, parents and staff is imperative to making decisions in the best interest of the Big Red Community.
   
   
4. Agility and fluidity in our decision making are important.
   
   
5. We value clarity, kindness and unity in purpose.

With these principles in mind, we began identifying scenarios we envisioned the district might face in the coming months and used these scenarios to develop our System Response Guide.

System Response Guide

We know that providing face-to-face instruction in an at-school learning environment is the ideal way to ensure exceptional learning experiences for students. During the era of COVID-19, however, a range of public health prevention and mitigation strategies must be considered as we respond within a school facility setting. Our System Response Guide is not limited to guidance as it stands today but takes into account varying health and safety precautions that would support continuation of the at-school learning environment.

Scenarios 1 & 2
These scenarios are the closest to a pre-COVID-19 school environment. In both scenarios, community spread of COVID-19 is no longer a significant public health concern. Students and families still face academic and wellness challenges as a result of the pandemic, but some new prevention and mitigation strategies implemented could be loosened. 

Scenario 3
In Scenario 3, students are attending class in person five days a week. Enhanced safety precautions are in place. Students may be released early one day a week to allow for cleaning and additional teacher planning time.

At-School Elementary School – Sample Schedule – Scenario 3 / En español
At-School Middle School – Sample Schedule – Scenario 3 / En español
At-School High School – Sample Schedule – Scenario 3 / En español

Scenario 4
In Scenario 4, hybrid schedules will be implemented to create smaller cohorts of students at high school campuses. High school students in Functional Academics, Life Skills, AIMS or Delta will have the opportunity to attend school four days a week. At elementary and middle school campuses, all students will learn remotely one day each week to allow for increased sanitization of buildings and additional teacher planning time.

*Under current TEA guidance, this type of hybrid schedule may only be implemented for an initial 4 week transition or up to 8 weeks with approval from the Board of Trustees.

At-School Elementary School – Sample Schedule – Scenario 4 / En español
At-School Middle School – Sample Schedule – Scenario 4 / En español
At-School High School – Sample Schedule – Scenario 4 / En español

Scenario 5
In Scenario 5, health and safety concerns necessitate the closure of school buildings to students. This could be individual campuses or a district-wide closure. At this point, all at-school learning shifts to a remote environment.

At-School Elementary School – Sample Schedule – Scenario 5 / En español
At-School Middle School – Sample Schedule – Scenario 5 / En español
At-School High School – Sample Schedule – Scenario 5 / En español

At-Home Learning
Across all scenarios, an at-home learning option will be available.

At-Home Elementary School - Sample Schedule / En español
At-Home Middle School - Sample Schedule / En español
At-Home High School - Sample Schedule / En español

Learning Environments for 2020-2021
Following the guidance of TEA, Belton ISD will provide a traditional “at-school” environment for students as well as an “at-home” option for families who have concerns about their child physically returning to school. The decision of which learning environment is best is a personal, family choice. The district is committed to providing exceptional learning opportunities for students in both environments. Learn more about constants across both learning environments and details for each here. 

At-School Learning
At-School Learning is available for all students on all campuses. This option is a traditional school experience with enhanced health and safety measures taken in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19. It is likely, however, that At-School learners may begin classes in person and later move into intermittent remote learning environments because of COVID-19 outbreaks and/or government mandated closure of school buildings.

At-Home Learning
At-Home Learning in the 2020-2021 school year will look different from what students and families experienced last spring. At-Home learners will participate in an online learning option that is engaging, rigorous, and aligned with on-campus instruction. Students will be issued devices and expected to follow a daily schedule comparable to the regular bell schedule for At-School learners. The schedule will include time for learning activities completed both individually and together with teachers/classmates using a learning management system.