Fabens ISD begins school year with virtual learning before transition to hybrid model

FABENS, Texas -- School got underway Monday in Fabens in what promises to be a unique academic year.

Fabens Independent School District officials chose to begin the year with distance learning, like most school districts are doing across the state.

“Per the health mandates, we will be all virtual distance learning for all of our students and that will occur during the first four weeks," said Fabens Superintendent Veronica Vijil. "That will take us up to Labor Day.”

After that, Fabens will transition into a more traditional hybrid school schedule.

As with many school districts, the unsung heroes at Fabens ISD are the janitorial staff as students will eventually return to find socially distanced classrooms and new cleaning practices in place.

However, the process has been the most intense for the teachers, many of whom have been working overtime to set up virtual classrooms for the very first time.

“Our teachers have gone through a thorough training this week with a Google expert so they can set up their classrooms and everyone is in the know about what to do and how to communicate with teachers," Vijil said.

And Fabens ISD also recently carried out a parent survey about safety standards in which 70 percent of families said they would prefer that a virtual distance learning to remain in place for as long as possible.