Abilene ISD Superintendent Dr. David Young and Abilene Wylie ISD Superintendent Joey Light announced Friday afternoon that both districts will be closed to students for three days next week (Monday-Wednesday) before resuming instruction on all campuses on Thursday, March 19.

“Administrators in both school districts realize there are health concerns over the recent outbreak of illnesses caused by the Coronavirus (COVID-19), and we are putting into place a plan that we believe makes the most sense for both of our school districts” Dr. Young said. “We are going to spend those three days next week with staff on our campuses preparing for the return of students on Thursday unless otherwise mandated by the Texas Education Agency, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), or Texas Commissioner of Education. Our decision is based on emphasizing facts over fear and relying on our medical experts in Abilene, including the AISD medical director Dr. Rob Wiley, Annette Lerma (Director of Health Services for the City of Abilene), and Linda Langston, the Director of Health Services for the AISD.”

Administrators and staff in both districts will spend the weekend surveying teachers and staff to determine where they might have traveled during Spring Break. That process will begin for students in both districts Monday. As teachers return to campus Tuesday, administrators and staff will begin putting plans into place to get school started again Thursday.

“In the same way that both districts are initially screening staff members to determine who can be at school and who can’t, we will then put the same plan into place for students,” Dr. Young said. “Parents must realize that we will be reaching out to them and we must have an individual conversation about each student and their travel during the break before they are allowed back onto our campuses. We must appropriately educate and intake staff and students before we can start back with normal operations.”

In addition to not having school next Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, both districts will suspend all practices and competitions for all student activities, both co-curricular and extra-curricular to include athletics.

Teachers and staff in both districts can expect to receive an email survey later Friday that must be filled out and returned by Sunday at 5 p.m. Parents of AISD students can expect a phone call from their respective campuses beginning Monday to determine the likelihood of exposure to the virus.

“This is where are right now,” Dr. Young said. “We realize this is a fluid situation and our plan could change before the beginning of next week or before we plan on welcoming students back on Thursday.”

For more information, please refer to www.abileneisd.org/coronavirus, or for state-wide information, refer to DSHS.texas.gov/coronavirus/ or https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.