AISD's (and other districts) Plans for Schools Starting August 18

[bluto 4913]

My son got a partial one for baseball. Got hurt during fall practice. Adios scholarship. Daughter went full, free ride to a good East Coast private school. All academics. Could not agree with you more. And while on the subject. Do we need to give everyone 2-3 practice jerseys? Special crap just cuz we have the money in the athletic budget? 
 

That last part, similar to govt budgeting in other sectors if you don’t use it all the budget will get cut the next yr.

[InkaUtexas 25869]

19 minutes ago, bluto said:

That last part, similar to govt budgeting in other sectors if you don’t use it all the budget will get cut the next yr.

I understand this principle. My first job out of UT was teaching history and coaching girls soccer (JV). Had all the gear I needed for one, barely enough for the other. 

[gsoda3 3247]

27 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

I understand this principle. My first job out of UT was teaching history and coaching girls soccer (JV). Had all the gear I needed for one, barely enough for the other. 

has anyone else heard about the increasing textbook shortage in schools?  i just heard about it maybe 4 years ago.  more and more schools are teaching without textbooks because they don't have the funding for it.  

[InkaUtexas 25869]

Just now, gsoda3 said:

has anyone else heard about the increasing textbook shortage in schools?  i just heard about it maybe 4 years ago.  more and more schools are teaching without textbooks because they don't have the funding for it.  

This was a long time ago. I had 37 total history textbooks and one class alone was 45 students. 

Daughter did not get her AP Chem textbook until December last year. 

[CooterBrown 18004]

6 hours ago, gsoda3 said:

has anyone else heard about the increasing textbook shortage in schools?  i just heard about it maybe 4 years ago.  more and more schools are teaching without textbooks because they don't have the funding for it.  

Now that you mention it, I don't think my oldest has ever had a textbook..she's in all Pre-AP/honors in 8th grade. 

EDIT: Just asked her and she said all textbooks are classroom only due to the lack of funding.  She's never been given her own textbook for any class to date.

 

Edited September 16, 2020 by CooterBrown

[gsoda3 3247]

6 hours ago, InkaUtexas said:

This was a long time ago. I had 37 total history textbooks and one class alone was 45 students. 

Daughter did not get her AP Chem textbook until December last year. 

 

45 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

Now that you mention it, I don't think my oldest has ever had a textbook..she's in all Pre-AP/honors in 8th grade. 

EDIT: Just asked her and she said all textbooks are classroom only due to the lack of funding.  She's never been given her own textbook for any class to date.

 

that's wild.  when did this start happening?  i graduated high school in 2000 and we never had problems, though we were plano ISD and i suspect we'd be the last ones hit.  

[InkaUtexas 25869]

4 hours ago, gsoda3 said:

 

that's wild.  when did this start happening?  i graduated high school in 2000 and we never had problems, though we were plano ISD and i suspect we'd be the last ones hit.  

well there was the Heroin fad. 

[InkaUtexas 25869]

3 hours ago, Dr. Beeper said:

 

Mine would shoot yours in the ass with a modified calvary bow laced with some toxic shit she discovered and make your kid glow. Which might be cool for some nights on 6th. 

[atomheartbevo 89628]

After a week and a half of helping my two small kids, If I was required to teach a classroom of 20+ little kids...

[hayden_horn 11362]

i cannot log my son into the fucking portal. what the fuck

[Foggy Notion 1202]

5 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

i cannot log my son into the fucking portal. what the fuck

We’re having the same problem. I just texted my daughter’s teacher who said the the AISD portal is down right now. 

[BabaYaga 15288]

On 9/15/2020 at 5:23 PM, InkaUtexas said:

Well, to be fair to your son and his coaches.  There is life after baseball, and it can be filled with wonderful things but it can feel a bit empty.  There is always that moment as a young man when he's told he can no longer play organized ball.  Comes much earlier for most than it did for your son.  I got it after one Fall Ball semester at a D-I program (academic scholarship, nowhere near good enough for an athletic one, just a walk-on opportunity).  It's the end of the world at the time, then you almost forget about it within a year.  Next thing you know...you're 20 years older.  And then, for some reason as you look back at middle age...you feel the pain all over again and wonder what coulda been.  But you carry it with you to remind you that life went on, it didn't matter in the end, and you draw the lessons from the game as God intended for you to pass along to your children/grandchildren.  It's a cruel game, but it also loves us and calls us back to a time we long forgot.  

 

Yep.  Happens.  6'4 and left handed pitcher here.  Walked on/tried out for Gus after getting a lot of smoke blown up my ass about a scholie.  Looked good on paper.  Then reality set in.  Shit the bed and got hurt.  Thus ending any scholarship talks.  You move on - refocus that discipline to something else.  

[hayden_horn 11362]

14 minutes ago, Foggy Notion said:

We’re having the same problem. I just texted my daughter’s teacher who said the the AISD portal is down right now. 

yeah, he texted his friends who are having the same issue. my other son, on the other hand, is logged in. to fucking PE class. haha, of course that one works

[atomheartbevo 89628]

4 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

yeah, he texted his friends who are having the same issue. my other son, on the other hand, is logged in. to fucking PE class. haha, of course that one works

If you know their Zoom schedule, but don’t know the Zoom session numbers, pop into Zoom, click on the drop down list, and it shows all of your recent Zoom sessions.    Good luck with passwords.   
 

Seesaw still works thankfully.

[1978horn 892]

20 minutes ago, Foggy Notion said:

We’re having the same problem. I just texted my daughter’s teacher who said the the AISD portal is down right now. 

Son just had the same issue with Dripping Springs isd.  Wonder if something bigger is going on.  Or maybe the all use the same 3rd party app to login.

[Halohal 498]

This is ridiculous. Been fighting to log in, doing the "it's me" and not them issues (reboots, reset, blah blah). Finally got a hold of someone and told us it's district wide and to retry every 15 min. 

[Armybrat 40822]

Youngest grandson (Zilker 5th grader) in South Austin can’t log in either. Dunno if his big brother (Austin High) has tried yet.

[Guest Lobo]

1 minute ago, Armybrat said:

Youngest grandson (Zilker 5th grader) in South Austin can’t log in either. Dunno if his big brother (Austin High) has tried yet.

That's awesome your youngest grandson is a 5th grade teacher at Zilker.  But sounds like he's tech-challenged.  Happens to all of us in our 40's.  You should tell his older brother, principal at Austin High to to get his act together before they go live online.  I figured your grandkids would be much older despite all the jokes.  Hook 'Em.

[South Austin 52454]

Highland Park is doing its best to send Zoom info via Living Tree, but the crashing of the portal is fucking things up this morning.  Was bound to happen eventually after a relatively smooth first two weeks.

[Kringelbert Fishtybuns 943]

Some of the pod kids had some trouble logging in this morning but most were okay.  Sounds like it was pretty widespread and AISD just sent out an email.
 

Didn’t expect the kids to be cold during September “garage school”.  Boiling some water for tea, but it doesn’t help that all the kids have zero body fat.

The in-person survey is due tonight.  I was all gung-ho on returning and was under the impression that in person elementary was going to be like before but with spacing/masks/no room changes.  It looks instead like some sort of futuristic re-education camp with all learning on tablets/no additional instruction during asynchronous time/plexiglass desk domes.  The teachers we have spoken to and have a long relationship with have told us unofficially that if possible to keep the kids remote.  The setup we have will be better for them and they actually get to play/interact with one another.  Also, it gives planning time to the teachers during asynchronous and keeps them from continuously interrupting their instruction to keep the kids at their desks/masks on/etc.  Also, recess sounds like a clusterfuck.

Either way, the decision is a shit sandwich.

 

[Your Mom 4805]

Y'all need to be friends with more Karen's on FB.  My feed has no less than 20 posts this morning about "OMG little Kiegan and Kelcy can't log onto Blend!!!"  Followed by 10 replies that 10 other Karens also can't log their kids before someone finally mentions it's down for mostly the whole district.    Apparently I'm friends with a lot of parents of over-achieving kids too because they are all allegedly stressed out about not getting to see the zoom today or being counted absent. When I told my kids it was out for the whole district they were like, "Cool, can I head to the park to play basketball in the rain?"

[smoky 840]

So the data they're collecting in the survey will be shit data.

"See, no one wants to return to the classroom"

[Your Mom 4805]

2 minutes ago, smoky said:

So the data they're collecting in the survey will be shit data.

"See, no one wants to return to the classroom"
 

That is spot on.  I know I'm in the minority but I'd send my kids back yesterday if it was real classwork facilitated in-person by their actual teacher in the room with them.  I'm completely onboard with that.  But this pod model sounds worthless.  I see the value for families with parents that are not home or are busy working and would like someone around to keep their kids on task or help with technical problems.  But for my family it sounds like a much worse environment than just logging in from their desk at home.  If my only choices are virtual school or the equivalent of in-school-suspension then we're staying virtual even though I'm completely against virtual school.  It skews the whole survey.  

[atomheartbevo 89628]

1 hour ago, Kringelbert Fishtybuns said:

 I was all gung-ho on returning and was under the impression that in person elementary was going to be like before but with spacing/masks/no room changes.  It looks instead like some sort of futuristic re-education camp with all learning on tablets/no additional instruction during asynchronous time/plexiglass desk domes.  The teachers we have spoken to and have a long relationship with have told us unofficially that if possible to keep the kids remote.  

We were told the opposite by our kids teachers - there will be learnin' face-to-face, albeit socially-distanced.  They will have a large display or something setup, so the kids at home can be seen, and the teacher will be calling on both kids in the classroom and kids at home.

Those teachers in low-risk groups are chomping at the bit to ditch Blend/Canvas/Seesaw and get back to normal.

[atomheartbevo 89628]

1 hour ago, Your Mom said:

Y'all need to be friends with more Karen's on FB.  My feed has no less than 20 posts this morning about "OMG little Kiegan and Kelcy can't log onto Blend!!!"  Followed by 10 replies that 10 other Karens also can't log their kids before someone finally mentions it's down for mostly the whole district.    Apparently I'm friends with a lot of parents of over-achieving kids too because they are all allegedly stressed out about not getting to see the zoom today or being counted absent. When I told my kids it was out for the whole district they were like, "Cool, can I head to the park to play basketball in the rain?"

I kept telling people that Seesaw worked (for the younger kids), that you could access Blend through other ways, that Zoom was just fine (teachers should have been sending out the #s and passwords to the parents).

Apparently I'm one of the few parents who opted to make a sheet of Zoom sessions a week or two ago.

Karens just didn't want to have to stop and work things out.

[Kringelbert Fishtybuns 943]

50 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

We were told the opposite by our kids teachers - there will be learnin' face-to-face, albeit socially-distanced.  They will have a large display or something setup, so the kids at home can be seen, and the teacher will be calling on both kids in the classroom and kids at home.

Those teachers in low-risk groups are chomping at the bit to ditch Blend/Canvas/Seesaw and get back to normal.

That may be how it works out for your teachers, but our school was very explicit with how in person would be.  This included sending two follow up emails with details.  The kids will essentially be in the same room as the teacher, but the teacher will be teaching to the screen/virtual learners.  The kids will respond and get called on through the virtual platform and not directly.  No additional instruction will be done in the asynchronous time, but the teachers will be available during office hours.  The teachers have to stay at the front and can’t even  walk around checking the kids work.  The kids are supposed to stay at their desks and work on their devices.  Additionally, since our kids are in an immersion program, they have different teachers for each half of the day.  The teachers can’t change classrooms.  So in the second half of the day - they would be sitting with a teacher teaching a Zoom class to other kids while the teacher they are on with is in the room next door.  

I know this isn’t just a bad set of teachers.  This set of teachers have been fantastic from the beginning.  We had emails during Spring Break with schedules/zoom meeting info and assignments.  They are setting up in person check ins every Saturday for two grades of students in the room mom’s driveway.  There they collect some assignments, connect with the students and parents, and hand out cookies/books/next weeks handouts.  That is where we got the feedback on in person instruction.

I completely understand if both parents are working that it’s the only route that makes sense.  As much as I know the Kinder needs to go back, that setup sounds like a shit show designed to fail for both him and the teachers.  It’s a pain to keep 4 kids (especially Kinder) from unplugging their headphones, spilling shit all over the place, not having a meltdown - that I can’t imagine trying to manage that and instruct at the same time.  At least now, they are able to see a couple of friends, help each other with work and my wife gets a couple of hours off a day to get other shit done.  It sure as fuck is better than the Spring.
 

Good luck to all as you start week 3.  One week closer to in person, no matter what.

 

 

 

 

[Your Mom 4805]

Yeah at my kids' middle school and high school it was communicated to us that the kids would be in a classroom all day, cannot leave except for bathroom breaks.  Same classroom with the same kids and the same babysitter all day.  The teacher in that room is not their teacher, he/she would be busy teaching their own class to a different group of students virtually and is only in the room to keep them from stabbing each other and to help with technical issues as time permits.  All kids must wear earbuds or headsets as they'd each be working on different classes.  Lunch is eaten at the desk in that same classroom.  Interactions with your actual teacher would still be 100% virtual, same as the kids at home.  There will be zero face-to-plexiglass-to face teaching.  

[hayden_horn 11362]

rumor going around that aisd is going to have the kids that go for f2f actually rotating around classes when they go back on the 5th. anyone hearing anything? aisd's facebook page is somewhat histrionic. something about a sudden reversal of plans leaving principals and teachers in the lurch

Edited September 23, 2020 by hayden_horn

[atomheartbevo 89628]

1 hour ago, hayden_horn said:

rumor going around that aisd is going to have the kids that go for f2f actually rotating around classes when they go back on the 5th. anyone hearing anything? aisd's facebook page is somewhat histrionic. something about a sudden reversal of plans leaving principals and teachers in the lurch

I talked to a 4th grade teacher at my kid's school yesterday, and she said the teachers would rotate into classrooms in the upper grades.  Rotating the kids would lead to a lot more cleaning, more cleaning than they have staff for, and some parents would flip out.

There's a lot of misinformation being spread (not accusing you hh), and while some of it's out of ignorance, I suspect there is some deliberate shit going on by people outside of AISD, either don't have kids in AISD (maybe home schoolers with an axe to grind), or even outside of the area.  There's some weird stuff going on, with some people trying to start shit.  It's like, with all of the crap everybody is having to go through right now, somebody wants to create additional crap and make things harder for everybody.   From what I understand, AISD leadership/legal is aware of it and dealing with it. 

My kids are going back when they can, and I've been told that both schools will have them doing PE/recess, they will be doing some stuff through their iPads, but will be getting F2F instruction and projects.

Part of the problem is that it sounds like some schools are trying to maintain the same type of education for kids at home and kids in-person, which means a lot more screentime than necessary for the kids in-person, but they have to do everything "equal" or some parents keeping their kids home will get pissed.  I also wonder how much leeway the schools have, because my kids' schools different from other parents' kids' schools.

A bigger part is that parents aren't returning the surveys, so there's a lot of uncertainty, which leads to parents not returning surveys.  Parents expect them to make plans based on unknown variables, and they are trying to fill those variables in, but can't unless everybody turns in a survey.

[atomheartbevo 89628]

Few corrections from a friend:  Older elementary kids will be going to specials where the specials normally happen, and they'll clean those areas between groups.   The first few weeks will be heavy on the iPad/Chromebook for the in-person kids, simply because if things have to shut down, it won't be a huge disruption.

But both of my kid's teachers have said they will be teaching F2F, with a laptop/large display showing the kids at home, and they'll interact with both groups.   It won't be some kind of Pink Floyd thing where the kids have their heads buried in their ipads/Chromebooks in-person - they'll be interacting with the teachers.

[atomheartbevo 89628]

Guess AISD looked at their social media, and the superintendent put this out tonight.  @hayden_horn this might answer your questions

Quote

Good evening, Austin ISD,

I am committed to keeping you informed and aware of decisions that are being made in the district. You may have heard that there were conversations about shifting course regarding the physical return to campus. However, after consulting with campus leadership and hearing from numerous families and staff, we have determined now is not the time to adjust our plans. Beginning Oct. 5, we will phase in on-campus instruction according to the phase-in plan outlined on our website. 

 

Quote

When we have had the opportunity to assess our effectiveness at limiting the spread of COVID-19 on-campus, we will revisit the possibility of allowing students to change classrooms throughout the day. This approach will allow us to confirm safety protocols are working before taking further steps toward in-person school as we know it.  

That may mean specials won’t be in the specials rooms.  

[BrazilHorn 6586]

Just so half ass. Go and drop off athletic forms last night for football for my 8th grader at OHMS. The boys haven't been allowed to even meet and do PT together (at a distance etc)

Yet we round the corner to drive off after dropping off forms and there are the cheerleaders doing some cheer in front of the school. No idea why that is allowed and the boys going on a 100 yard football field to run sprints & other non-pad work that can be socially distanced isn't.

Also drove down Burnet last week and at Lamar Middle school it looked like they were in full pads practicing. (if not them someone else who looked to be middle school size/age was) Just WTF? Zero consistency and no communications.

It's not a City of Austin thing as both of my boys have had baseball practice at indoor facilities over past couple of weeks. The inconsistent application of who can/can't practice is enough to drive you crazy.

[Your Mom 4805]

Athletics practices have been allowed for quite some time now in AISD.  It's the athletics directors' and coaches' decisions at this point.  For a while it was practices only with no competitions until Austin is at Level 2.  That was per the school board's decision.  A couple weeks ago the superintendent overruled that decision and allowed competitions.  The rules on masks and distancing are different for each sport.  My kids middle school football coach decided it was just not practical enough to follow all the rules and play proper football, so the season was cancelled.  My other son has been going to unofficial cross country practices all summer, official practices as of a few weeks ago, and has already had one cross country meet.  Second meet is tomorrow.  It gets even more confusing because some of the meets are held by schools in other districts.  Last week at Hays, this week in Round Rock, so the AISD teams have to find a way to follow the AISD mask/distance rules while at the same time complying with the local school's rules on site at the meets, which may be entirely different than AISD's. 

Bottom line though is that competition and practices are now allowed and coaches can decide whether it's worth the hassle or whether they even have enough interest from parents to field a proper team or not.  I think that was a big factor in my kid's MS football coach cancelling the season, not enough parents showed interest in sending their kids to a practice with masks on and no contact for a season that may or may not happen.  

An example of the silly rules is that cross country runners must show up to the meet in a mask, must wear the mask to the starting line, then can discard the mask and throw it to the ground when the start gun goes off, as they run and huff and puff in each others' faces in a pack together for the next 18 minutes, then must put a mask back on again after they finish while they walk alone to the team tent again.  

Edited September 24, 2020 by Your Mom

[hayden_horn 11362]

13 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

Guess AISD looked at their social media, and the superintendent put this out tonight.  @hayden_horn this might answer your questions

 

That may mean specials won’t be in the specials rooms.  

yeah, i had to chuckle when i got that email last night. it seems to me that they made a rash decision in a rash moment, and when it got out, they realized they had been led down a primrose path by someone and that what they had done they were so firmly convinced was a good thing turned out to be a massive wtf moment. we've all been there. usually involving a woman.

[Goodman 3273]

14 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

Guess AISD looked at their social media, and the superintendent put this out tonight.  @hayden_horn this might answer your questions

 

That may mean specials won’t be in the specials rooms.  

Elizalde's tone suggest that this was intended for the students and not the adults paying taxes. I'd love to see the list of folks they've consulted with.

"

Good evening, Austin ISD,

 

I am committed to keeping you informed and aware of decisions that are being made in the district. You may have heard that there were conversations about shifting course regarding the physical return to campus. However, after consulting with campus leadership and hearing from numerous families and staff, we have determined now is not the time to adjust our plans. Beginning Oct. 5, we will phase in on-campus instruction according to the phase-in plan outlined on our website. 

When we have had the opportunity to assess our effectiveness at limiting the spread of COVID-19 on-campus, we will revisit the possibility of allowing students to change classrooms throughout the day. This approach will allow us to confirm safety protocols are working before taking further steps toward in-person school as we know it.  

Please know that I am keenly aware of my responsibility to ensure students receive the highest quality instruction that can be safely provided, and we know that for many students, that means being on-campus, engaging with their peers and teachers. We will be communicating with you soon about how we will be evolving toward a more normal in-person experience for all our students. 

I appreciate your understanding and support of AISD, especially during this unprecedented time.

Stephanie S. Elizalde"

[Samson's Wig 3191]

Are you implying that the adults paying taxes would prefer that AISD shift course and open things up more quickly, or the opposite?  Anecdotally, it seems that the split is pretty much 50/50 on that front.

[atomheartbevo 89628]

1 hour ago, Samson's Wig said:

Are you implying that the adults paying taxes would prefer that AISD shift course and open things up more quickly, or the opposite?  Anecdotally, it seems that the split is pretty much 50/50 on that front.

My kids' schools are running 50/50 - 60/40 on opening up.  I'm sure that in some parts of town, the numbers will be lower or higher.

AISD and the other districts have to do this as best they can, in order to get at least a decent chunk of kids into school, otherwise all kids will be back home again.

[Samson's Wig 3191]

14 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

My kids' schools are running 50/50 - 60/40 on opening up.  I'm sure that in some parts of town, the numbers will be lower or higher.

AISD and the other districts have to do this as best they can, in order to get at least a decent chunk of kids into school, otherwise all kids will be back home again.

Agreed.  I was just seeking clarification on Goodman's post.  

Thanks to social media and our generally disconnected lives, it's been really easy to get "bubbled" and assume that the entire world sees things the way you and your acquaintances do (nothing new here, I know).  But this pandemic has made things even worse.  People have not been more isolated or able to avoid deal with opposing opinions less since we were all living in small villages.  We wonder why tribalism is seemingly so rampant these days.  We've created the modern day version of small tribal living.

[JohnLocke 115]

Oct. 5th timing is the big issue.  Just not enough runway for the logistical questions. District has not given up a return to face to face and regular school. It will still likely happen this semester, unless the covid numbers change.  Eanes ISD returning has changed the conversation. 

[wood 11225]

Positive Covid test at Bowie...

Is that the first for the district?

Edited September 25, 2020 by wood

[yoladu 4090]

On 9/21/2020 at 2:39 PM, Your Mom said:

Yeah at my kids' middle school and high school it was communicated to us that the kids would be in a classroom all day, cannot leave except for bathroom breaks.  Same classroom with the same kids and the same babysitter all day.  The teacher in that room is not their teacher, he/she would be busy teaching their own class to a different group of students virtually and is only in the room to keep them from stabbing each other and to help with technical issues as time permits.  All kids must wear earbuds or headsets as they'd each be working on different classes.  Lunch is eaten at the desk in that same classroom.  Interactions with your actual teacher would still be 100% virtual, same as the kids at home.  There will be zero face-to-plexiglass-to face teaching.  

this is our understanding as well. it sounds like a prison camp.

Was never made clear to me,, how my two HS kids, who are in orchestra and band, nad have been plauing their instruments at home during their respective classes are supposed to do that in the class enviroment described above.

that being said, as much as i would love for my kids to be back in school with in-person learning with their teachers, the above is not that. We will continue virtual during this next phase.

[CooterBrown 18004]

Positive Covid test at Bowie...

Is that the first for the district?

Can’t remember the school but there were 8 positives last week at one school...4 kids 4 staff.

[atomheartbevo 89628]

 

[BrazilHorn 6586]

So OHMS is moving to 7x7 for football instead of tackle. Just stupid. Not sure how this is a lot safer from CV19 in big scheme of things as 7x7 kids can press etc/there is some contact.

No idea who even OHMS would play. Someone above said it is a school by school decision so apparently our school is just super risk averse.

My kid is an 8th grader so I think I will just hold him out and wait until he goes to Austin High next year. Playing a glorified version of flag football this fall isn't going to do a lot for him (as QB play in 8th grade is pretty sparse) developmentally. It will be hilarious if volleyball (indoor sport with kids in relative close contact) will be allowed as normal. Just so fucking inconsistent in policy and application.

[BrazilHorn 6586]

Just saw the latest TEA data on CV19.

There have been as of 9/27 800,000 teachers in class rooms and 4,100 cases (~.52%). Only 350 or so of these cases have been confirmed to have been caught in the class room. Put the teachers in MOPP gear or some other Hazmat suit and let them teach that way.

edit - the 350 or so is out of ALL cases. (I thought they had bifurcated results on their spreadsheet). So it is out of ~10,000 cases not 4,000.

Even less of a reason to keep schools closed.

Edited October 1, 2020 by BrazilHorn
Was wrong - is 350 out of ALL cases (students & staff)

[troph 24781]

How long do we really have to wait to know? Is the lag time a month? Are we at that point yet?

[Texas Jeff 1945]

On 9/29/2020 at 3:31 PM, BrazilHorn said:

My kid is an 8th grader so I think I will just hold him out and wait until he goes to Austin High next year.

Thinking positively, I think you are going to love watching high school games next year at House Park.  Austin High gets clobbered by our friends to the west but also has some great games. The lack of a track puts you right on top of the action with a great view of the Capitol and downtown.  Close games are a blast.

[Halohal 498]

Just got the "kids, would you call a parent for an important announcement". Someone tested positive at an AISD elementary. Geez... As for football, oldest playing flag but may not have enough players. We shall see..

[XYZ 2154]

Does anybody know anything about this rumor that next Monday a bunch of Austin ISD teachers will just not show up?

[BrazilHorn 6586]

5 minutes ago, XYZ said:

Does anybody know anything about this rumor that next Monday a bunch of Austin ISD teachers will just not show up?

I think that is a worry. Overhead on PTA call wife (no pics) was on this morning from principal at our older son's school that there is a little concern around that.