Katy ISD Prepares to Return to School as COVID Cases Rise

KATY MAGAZINE NEWS

January 3, 2022

By Natalie Cook Clark

Katy ISD staff return to school today and Katy students prepare to go to school tomorrow. The District is monitoring the increase in COVID-19 cases locally and will start 2022 classes out with all campuses operating at Stage 3: Modified Operations.

Katy ISD Continues to Review Safety Plans

Katy ISD’s Superintendent, Dr. Ken Gregorski and the Emergency Operational Management team continue to review mitigation and safety measures and have set a plan to safely return to school this week. They continue to follow safety measures set by the Governor’s orders and the Katy ISD’s Safe Return to School (SRTS) Plan. Read the updated plan here.

All Katy ISD Campuses to Resume Tomorrow at Stage 3

To best ensure the safety of students and staff, Katy ISD has announced that all campuses will be operating at Stage 3: Modified Operations at least through the end of the month.

In addition to following safety protocols outlined in Stage 4, Stage 3 requirements are as follows:

All staff and students (PK-12) are highly recommended to wear face coverings when indoors and on buses to the extent it is developmentally appropriate.
All staff, students and guests are highly recommended to wear face coverings when attending an indoor after-school event.
Large group indoor events may not be held during the instructional day. Events may be rescheduled and held once the campus returns to a Level 4 or 5 stage.
Lunch room visitors are not permitted
Guests and volunteers to the campus must be by appointment only.
Guests and volunteers when on campus during the instructional day will be required to wear a facial covering and have their temperature taken as part of the check-in process.
The requirement of guests and volunteers to wear a face covering is a new requirement listed at this stage.

While all Katy ISD campuses will operate at Stage 3 through the end of the month, the District says that they will continue to monitor the transmission rate data of the virus and will extend these protocols if needed.

Harris, Fort Bend County Current COVID Status

“Going back to school during a pandemic can be challenging,” Harris County Public Health tweeted on January 2.

They recommend getting your eligible kid vaccinated, wear a mask indoors, and to stay home if you have any symptoms.

As of January 2, Harris County reported 654,648 confirmed COVID-19 cases. Since the first reported case in March 2020, the county has reported 6,758 deaths. To date, 386.192 Harris County individuals have been vaccinated.

Fort Bend County reports 96,124 current confirmed COVID-19 cases and 1,061 deaths since their first reported case.

Both counties that Katy ISD resides in are set at a Level 2: Significant Threat Alert. Harris County states that with such an alert status individuals should "minimize all contacts unless fully vaccinated." Medium and large scale gathers are discouraged and they suggest that people should only visit businesses that follow public health guidelines.

Katy Families can Follow Katy ISD COVID Reporting

Katy ISD families can monitor the case date for the District at the Katy ISD COVID-19 Case Tracker Dashboard.

As of January 2, the self-reporting Katy ISD COVID-19 Case Tracker reported a current case count of 471 (129- Students and 342-staff.) This shows that 0.14% of Katy students (of those who report their cases) currently have COVID-19.

Katy ISD Offers Free COVID Testing for Current Students, Staff

Due to the rise of cases over the break, Katy ISD continued to offer free COVID-19 testing to current Katy ISD students. Eligible students can book an appointment online. This testing site is not open to the community. A valid Katy ISD badge must be presented at the test site.

For many Katy parents the ability to have their student vaccinated gives them comfort in this ongoing situation.

“He will wear a mask,” says Jennifer Skelton. “I feel better now that he is 100% vaccinated.”

Katy ISD continues to monitor local cases and take appropriate action to protect their students, staff, and community.