RFISD COVID-19 District Update: September 8, 2021
Dear Parents / Guardians,
We are continually monitoring the COVID 19 issues in our area. While our back to school plan is posted on our district website, we thought it prudent to update you on current conditions. I would like to let you know that the current COVID-19 infection rate at RFISD is .0043% and that we are aware of less than 7 active cases (adults and students combined) across our district.
We are asking that any student who lives in a home with a COVID positive person to quarantine for ten days. While students will be marked absent, we will have appropriate opportunities to obtain and complete work in order to lessen the impact of the absences. Most of our teachers use Seesaw (Kindergarten – 2nd grade) or Google Classroom (3rd – 12th grade), which will facilitate assignment delivery during these absences. If you have questions or extenuating circumstances, please contact your Campus Nurse. We will review those concerns on an individual basis.
We will continue to notify parents / guardians / staff of positive COVID cases among students in our schools, as required by law. While we will continue to notify by grade level and on occasion smaller groups, because of confidentiality requirements, we will be unable to list specific classrooms / teachers. We ask each family to exercise good discretion and act to positively affect this situation.
RFISD is committed to disinfect and clean our schools and classrooms on a daily basis. Additionally, our HVAC systems are set up to have frequent air changes. Current guidelines indicate that at least four air changes per hour is an excellent mitigation practice. Our systems are set up to have around ten (10) air changes per hour and, continually, at least 20% of the air taken in is fresh from the outside and is not recirculated. We are also in the process of placing air purifiers in many areas of our facilities. We have reinstated the practice of frequent cleaning with an electrostatic device that uses a product called “Brulin”. Brulin has been recognized for its safety and its excellent ability to disinfect and kill pathogens like the Novel Coronavirus.
As always, thank you for your support. The 2021-2022 school year is off to a great start and we remain hopeful for great things to come!
RFISD Safety Protocol Update: August 24, 2021
Dear Randolph Field ISD Parents and Families,
Welcome back RFISD students and families! We are excited to see all of our students and we are ready to have a great year regardless of circumstances. Our goal is to offer an excellent education that is both fulfilling and stimulating. RFISD will be a place where children feel both safe and welcome.
As we have witnessed the events that have unfolded and continue to unfold at the national, state, and local levels, we are saddened that there is such disagreement. However, we remain cautiously optimistic. We continue to work with JBSA leadership to support our men and women in uniform. I cannot think of a greater honor than to be associated with these dedicated individuals and their families. We are also very proud to be a Texas Independent School District. Texas authorized schools to be placed on military “reservations” in 1933 and Randolph Field ISD came into being shortly after. We are proud of our partnerships, our close working relationship with the military, and our school heritage!
The issue on the minds of many parents is students being required to wear masks. While we are hesitant to require mandates, we also want to be an active and cooperative JBSA team member. Therefore, we are requesting, not mandating, that our 2nd grade through 12th grade students wear masks when they are indoors and not able to socially distance in accordance with CDC guidelines. This is in keeping with the request of JBSA and I hope that we can all pull together and work toward a common goal. We want our students to be able to enjoy the educational benefits that RFISD has to offer and do not want them or our school to be the focus of any unnecessary federal, state, or local attention on this issue.
RFISD understands that not all families view the mask issue in the same way. We recognize that some families have medical reasons, deeply held beliefs, or other reasons that make masking not acceptable for them. If this is the case for your student, please contact your student’s campus administration.
RFISD is not currently asking our youngest children to wear masks (preK-1st). We will, however, do our best to maintain social distancing for these children. If you are a parent of this age group and wish your child to wear a mask, we will do our very best to make sure that your wishes are followed.
RFISD intends to maintain a supply of masks for student use. Still, to ensure that our supply does not run low, please send your child to school with multiple clean masks daily and encourage your student to change his or her mask frequently. RFISD recommends that our students change their masks at least hourly. We remain hopeful that this will only be a short-term measure. We will be constantly monitoring our COVID cases and will report any likely exposure to you once we become aware of it. Once again this is not a mandate. It is a request of collaboration between JBSA and RFISD.
Finally, we are excited to welcome all of our students back for the 2021-2022 school year. As a school district, our focus will remain on building caring relationships with your children and educating them at the highest level. We cannot wait to see all of the great things our students accomplish this year!
