The questions stem from Senate Bill 15, which gives school districts the option to offer virtual instruction.
When Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 15 into law, this gave school districts the opportunity to formalize a plan to offer virtual instruction, but only to a percentage of the district’s population.
“When you offer it it has to be to students who had 90 percent of attendance last year, passed all their state exams and all the classes and they are limiting it to 10 percent of the student enrollment of the school district,” said LISD Communication Director Amparo Lanese.
School districts are formalizing a plan for virtual instruction. A plan that has to be approved by the district board. For now, online classes are offered to students with a medical condition.
‘Currently LISD has close to 30 students who are receiving their instruction virtually due to medical conditions. But all of our other students are receiving their instruction in person,” stated Veronica Castillon, LISD Communications Director.
“Remote conferencing is for those students who have a temporary medical condition and they can submit their application through the website and once its approved the student can be in the remote conferencing for 20 days,” stated Lanese.
School districts clarify that in order to move forward with virtual instruction, the district must have a high accountability rating. In the meantime, they assure parents they continue working to provide a safe environment for students.
A reminder virtual instruction is optional and has to be approved by the school board of trustees.
