Dear Parents/Guardians,
I want to thank you for your continued partnership and support as we continue to educate our students in an at home learning environment. I appreciate the perseverance and resilience that is demonstrated on a daily basis by you and your student(s).
There are a number of pertinent topics that I would like to address with you.
Instructional Continuity:
Diboll ISD will continue to have instruction through May 29th at 1:00 p.m. This is the original calendar date scheduled for school dismissal this year and we must continue through that date in order to meet the number of instructional minutes required by law. While we have had to pivot how we deliver instruction, our teachers are providing quality lessons and support that is needed to ensure that our students are exposed to and meet the essential knowledge and skills required to be promoted to the next grade level or to meet graduation requirements.
Grades:
Work will continue to be graded as per policy. We understand that students have varying levels of support and access. Our teachers have been and are continuing to be available Monday through Friday via email, Zoom and other social media venues to provide guidance and support. We fully understand that students may not get all the answers correct and that some work may be more challenging than other work,, but we do expect that all students will attempt work provided, they will turn in required work in a timely manner and they will show effort. If no effort is shown, no participation is made,and no work turned in, then the student will be in danger of losing credit for the 2nd semester (high school), not being promoted or graduating. Bottom line, if a student shows effort, participates and turns in work timely it will produce positive results.
Class Rank and Top 10%
Class Rank and Top 10% for each high school class was frozen on March 6, 2020 for grade levels 9-12. The only thing that could negatively impact or change the rank would be if the student did not show effort, did not participate or turn in work in a timely manner. So again, effort is the key.
Graduation:
This issue has been on the hearts and minds of our seniors, our parents and our school staff. If at all possible,we want to provide an in person graduation to honor the accomplishments of this outstanding class of young people. Governor Abbott has established a strike force committee to review graduation opportunities. One of the suggestions is to allow school districts to open up the campus stadium following guidelines that he has established for the opening of state parks. These rules included group units no larger than 5, best practices like the wearing of masks and social distancing by remaining 6 feet apart from other groups.
Our hope is that we will receive additional guidance regarding this possibility within the next few weeks. If we are able to use our stadium, then it could possibly require entrance tickets, we would issue 5 tickets per graduate and one of the 5 would be for them so you would have the remaining 4 tickets for additional family members or friends There would be a staggered entrance and family members would need to be seated together in assigned ticketed areas and remain 6 feet apart from the next family group. There would need to be an organized family group entry and exit, hand sanitizing stations would be placed throughout the stadium, masks would be recommended to be worn by guests and specific workers and there would be a staggered exit at the conclusion of the ceremony. Guests and students would need to go immediately to their vehicles. and depart from the stadium. While this is certainly not the norm, it is a live graduation and night of honor and celebration for these amazing students. I know that tickets create an issue, but we must follow guidelines and social distancing in order to possibly have the celebration in real time. If things change and we could possibly open it up more, then our commitment is to do so. Safety of all attending must remain our first priority. Let us hope that this can even be a possibility. If a stadium graduation is a possibility, the ceremony would be held on Friday May 28th at 7:30 p.m. If there is a cancellation due to rain, then graduation would be held on Saturday May 30th at 7:30 p.m. If that date is rained out, then graduation would be held on Sunday, May 31st at 7:30 p.m. Again, the Lumberjack Stadium Graduation is contingent upon approval from the Governor’s Strike Force Committee on Graduation.
If the stadium plan is not approved, then we would hold the graduation on Saturday, May 30th at the Pentecostal Bible College or the Diboll High School Gym depending on distancing rules in place at the time. Graduation would be broken into sessions where a designated number of students would be graduating per session. Designated graduation times will be provided to each family for that day. A professional videographer would film all sessions and compile them into one single ceremony that will be provided at no charge to the graduates. Parents will receive a specific graduation time. Each graduate would be able to bring an allotted number of guests, depending on social distancing capacity and current orders in place at the time. If Governor Abbott releases restrictions related to groups, this would be taken into consideration related to enhancing the number of guests and graduates during a session. Graduates and family members would be safely seated in six feet increments. The ceremony will follow traditional sequencing with opening remarks, valedictorian and salutatorian speeches and closing remarks (speeches will only be given during the first session but will be included in the video). Exiting would be staggered and individuals would need to go immediately to their vehicles. At the conclusion of each session, we will properly sanitize the facilities to prepare for the next set of graduates and their families.
Again, thank you for all you are doing to support at home learning for your children.
Thanks,
Vicki Thomas
Diboll ISD
Superintendent of Schools