It’s a great day to be a Dillo! On August 17, 2017 Hurricane Harvey made landfall. I was the superintendent for a school district that was in the direct path of the storm. I had never experienced a hurricane before, so we watched the weather reports and kept monitoring the path of the storm.
The good thing about a hurricane is that you can see it coming, giving you time to prepare and plan. Another thing I learned is that in a city that is scheduled to evacuate, the only two people who must remain along with some law enforcement officials, are the mayor and the superintendent. The superintendent stays because it is local school buses that are used to evacuate mass groups of people. Our schools are used as emergency shelters so someone must stay to open the doors for the public.
Schools are set up to be a place of refuge when disaster strikes. The COVID 19 panic that we are experiencing is much like a hurricane. We can see it coming but it has not hit San Saba county yet. Until we have a confirmed case in our county, San Saba ISD will prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
In the current panic, people are asking why we have not closed. There is no need to close our school at this time because the threat is not here. The situation is changing very fast and many districts have had to rethink their plans and make adjustments.
This is what the commissioner of education has said and it can be confusing, “schools are closing but they must stay open.” The school building may close but education must go on. For the schools to continue to function, we must offer alternative types of education via the internet or homework packets sent home. We will still provide food and special education services. We may have a drive by pickup for lunches and if there is a special circumstance, home delivery may be an option. Being “closed” and functioning is one option but if the government shuts us down completely with no services to students, then it becomes more critical.
The SSISD School Board has put in place emergency protocols to maintain payroll, but those measures can change overtime. Our goal is to maintain as much normalcy for our students as possible for as long as we can.
I am very proud of our staff. They have been extremely positive and working very hard to prepare for our students. Because the situation is changing rapidly, I will keep our parents and staff updated through our Parent Square app.
Here is a 3-step plan:
1. School is open as usual.
2. School is closed but in session with blended learning models from home.
3. School is shut down with no services. Essentially with a shutdown, we hunker down until the storm passes.
We are ready for the storm. Sometimes God calms the storm but sometimes he lets the storm rage and calms us. Go Dillos!