Dear Austin ISD Family,

As COVID-19 hospitalizations increase and tighter restrictions throughout the region have become necessary,Austin ISD will encourage parents to have their students attend school through remote off-campus instruction for the remainder of this week. This decision was made in partnership with Austin Public Health and city and county officials to help decrease the spread of COVID-19 in our communities, as well as to reduce the risk to our hospitals.

We are asking all families to keep their children in a remote-learning setting beginning on Tuesday, Jan. 12 and for the remainder of the week. Please remember that our schools will remain open to families who need access to our in-person services, such as special needs, etc. Each principal will work with their school community to determine staffing needs and levels as long as Travis County remains in Stage 5.

We recognize that many will be asking why we didn’t do this last week. The reality is that we have been working with TEA to ensure that moving to this setting would not jeopardize our funding, and thus our ability to continue to pay staff.

Our commitment to our community’s health and safety is unwavering:

• COVID-19 Tests: Austin ISD will offer mass, drive-through, COVID-19 testing on Wednesday, Jan. 13 and Thursday, Jan. 14 at AISD Central Office and Northeast Early College High School (Nelson Field). Testing is available for all staff and students that usually learn/work in-person (including students that participate in on-campus extracurricular activities). Please register for a drive-through COVID-19 testing time HERE.
• Food Access: AISD continues to offer curbside meals for our students to ensure our students have access to nutritious meals. Please view our list of meal distribution sites.
• Wi-fi Access: AISD continues to deploy Wi-Fi buses to offer Internet access to our students in communities across Austin. Please note that access will be available from 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Please view a map of ourcommunity Wi-Fi service.

Today’s Remote Instruction: Thank you for working with AISD today as our school communities offered remote instruction due to inclement weather. The Texas Education Agency will provide the district with credit for today at 100% which prevents the addition of a school day to the end of the academic year. In addition, this decision allows our hourly employees to continue to be paid.

We will continue to keep you informed and appreciate your understanding and flexibility. We will work to provide updates weekly before the end of the business day on Thursdays

Thank you for supporting our school communities—as our teachers and team members support our students and families throughout Austin.

Working together, we will continue to help keep each other and our communities safe.

Stephanie S. Elizalde, Ed.D.
Superintendent