Socorro ISD welcomes students back to campus for first time in six months
EL PASO, Texas – The Socorro Independent School District, the first Borderland school district to announce plans to return to campus, has revised its reopening plans.
Teachers will now have the option to work from home or campus through Oct. 2, according to the announcement late Friday afternoon.
Socorro Superintendent Jose Espinoza said they revised their phased-in re-opening plans after El Paso City-County Health Authority Dr. Hector Ocaranza gave a “bleak projection, differing from the guidance we had received and followed when developing our previous plans.”
“Understandably, this led to fear and hesitation within our community,” Espinoza added.
Students who have been unable to access remote learning and have been going through a special offline program will be able to return to campus starting Tuesday.
Students from families with “extenuating circumstances” will begin online instruction on campus beginning Sept. 14.
And some students whose parents opted for the traditional/hybrid learning on a scheduling survey will be able to return to school on Sept. 28. These students also now have the option to opt out of the on-campus option and return to school on Oct. 19, three weeks later.
SISD officials also remind the community that remote or at-home learning will continue to be an option throughout the school year.
The Chief Medical Officer at Del Sol Medical Center offered some advice for parents still unsure about the possibility of sending students back to campus. He urged families to emphasize the importance of wearing a mask to children.
“Do you have a mask? Are you washing every day? Do you have multiple masks?” said Dr. Ogechika Alozie. “Are your children washing their hands? Teach them how to wash their hands properly for two minutes. Potentially have hand sanitizers if that’s something that you can afford. I think when they return home again, there should be sort of a regimen of washing your hands, change your clothes, whatever it may be to sort of decontaminate, but don't go overboard with it.”
Dr. Alozie said it can be helpful to ask children to practice wearing a mask at home.
“Having kids in school, especially depending on their age, may be difficult for them to keep a mask on all day,” he said. “One of the things that has been offered is parents could start practicing that now. Get their kids to wear the mask one or two hours a day at home while they're doing school from home. Get them to wear it when they're potentially engaging in physical activity, making them get used to that masking.”
