Note: Spring Branch ISD families received this message on the evening of March 10, 2020.

This letter provides an update on several district actions related to coronavirus (COVID-19) and also makes a request for information from you.

SBISD senior staff continues to closely monitor information concerning coronavirus (COVID-19) and follow the guidance and expertise of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), City of Houston Health Department, Harris County Public Health and Texas Department of State Health Services.

Perfect Attendance/Exemptions/Excused Absences

Many of our schools recognize students for perfect attendance, and secondary schools have considered attendance as a criteria for final exam exemptions.

To reinforce our message that students remain at home if they are ill, we are modifying criteria for both perfect attendance and final exam exemption considerations.

• The perfect attendance timeline will now be August 15, 2019 – March 13, 2020.
• The attendance criteria timeline for final exam exemptions will now conclude as of March 13, 2020. All other campus criteria for exam exemptions will still apply.

In the event your child should stay home from school due to a coronavirus-related reason, the absence will be marked as excused. You will need to provide a parent/guardian note. For specific questions, please contact your campus directly.

Scheduled Student Travel

In the coming weeks, many of our students have district-approved trips scheduled with their peers and families. As of today, March 10, 2020, out of an abundance of caution and until further notice, SBISD is revoking its approval of all domestic and international district-approved student trips. (This decision does not currently impact travel associated with UIL activities and curricular activities as those terms are defined in our Student-Parent Handbook.)

School leaders have been provided with the list of student trips affected by this decision and will communicate directly with staff and families scheduled to travel on these trips.

The full SBISD statement regarding student travel is posted on our website.

General Family Travel – ACTION REQUEST

SBISD is asking our families and employees to voluntarily complete a Travel Survey, to report travel outside the U.S. over the past 14 days and/or through March 31, 2020.

Please log in to the Skyward Family Access Web Portal at this link to access and complete a Travel Survey for each child in your family. The form is available for completion directly in Student Family Access in English or Spanish.

You may also click on the link at the bottom of this message to print, complete and then return to your school office, a paper copy of the survey.

While we cannot mandate families to report travel, we strongly urge you to do so.

Our campus administrators will follow up, if appropriate, with families of students who may be traveling out of the country through the month of March.

We ask students, parents and staff who plan to travel in the upcoming weeks to monitor and comply with all CDC and local health and governmental agency recommendations.

For More Information

It is best to rely on factual information from reliable sources. Here are links to local, state, national and international health organizations:

• Houston Health Department
• Harris County Public Health
• Texas Department of State Health Services
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• World Health Organization

SBISD has also set up a webpage dedicated to COVID-19 that you can reference for district updates, resources and information.

We continue to follow local news updates and appreciate our SBISD families and staff for sharing pertinent information. We will continue to take our official guidance from the City of Houston Health Department and Harris County Public Health as well as other local, state and national health and governmental agencies.

Thank you so much,

Linda H. Buchman
Assoc. Superintendent for Community Relations
Spring Branch Independent School District