For more information, see HISD's Procedural Guidelines for COVID-19 Exposure, Presumed, or Confirmed Positive Individuals.

• All campuses are required to have a Student Health Isolation Pod (SHIP). This is a designated area where students can isolate. Isolation must be separate from the school clinic.
  
  Students exhibiting symptoms of a recognized communicable disease must be placed in this isolation area, away from others, until picked up by a parent/guardian. 
  
  The school nurse will document any confirmed communicable disease cases in HISD’s electronic health record. If campuses do not have a school nurse, the principal will fulfill these duties.
  
  
  

• If a student becomes infected with a communicable disease, they must notify their campus, stay home and isolate following CDC guidelines. Consult with your medical provider for further treatment guidance.

• If a confirmed communicable disease case is detected in a classroom or campus, parents/caregivers will be notified and provided with next steps related to isolation and any other measures that should be taken. If isolation is required, the student must stay home.

• We do not anticipate full or partial school closures. Should deteriorating conditions warrant the closure of a campus, classroom, or portion of a classroom, that determination will be made on a case-by-case basis by HISD Health & Medical Services in consultation with local health agencies. These decisions are based on all the evidence and totality of circumstances and in alignment with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
  
  While done in consultation with local health agencies, the HISD Superintendent of Schools will make the final decision on any closures.

• HISD is providing in-person learning five days per week for all students during the 2022-2023 school year. To learn more, review the 2022-2023 Back to School Guidelines

• Student should adhere to the dress code standards set by 
  their campus.
• 
  If your family needs assistance with clothing, submit a 
  Student Assistance Form to HISD’s Wraparound Services 
  Department via HoustonISD.org/SAF. 

• Masks—Masks are highly encouraged for both students and staff that may need additional layers of protection or are currently sick. Masks are no longer mandatory inside or outside of HISD schools, buildings, or buses.
• Self-Monitoring—Students, staff, and visitors are asked to monitor their health and stay home when sick.
• Vaccinations—Vaccinations are our first line of defense against COVID-19. The district hosts several vaccination clinics. Additional details and vaccination locations in the city of Houston can be found online at HoustonEmergency.org/COVID-19-Vaccines.
• COVID-19 Guidelines—The district has outlined guidance and protocols for confirmed, presumed, and exposed individuals.
• COVID-19 Testing—HISD encourages all students and staff to participate in regular COVID-19 screen testing, which allows preventative measures to be taken to avoid further transmission of COVID-19. Beginning in January 2022, HISD will provide free COVID-19 testing to all consenting HISD students and staff on participating campuses. A one-time consent form is required for participation in the COVID-19 campus testing program. The form can be completed at HoustonISD.org/COVIDTesting. For more information, visit HoustonISD.org/HealthAlerts.
• Hygiene—Students, staff, and visitors are encouraged to wash/ sanitize their hands regularly. Sanitization stations will be maintained at all HISD schools, facilities, and buildings.
• Sanitization and Disinfection—All district schools and buildings will continue to be cleaned, disinfected, and fogged nightly with hospital-grade disinfectants as a precautionary measure. Hand sanitizer and other cleaning and disinfecting supplies will be provided in all schools, buildings, and buses.
• Physical Distancing—While no longer required, physical distancing of at least three feet is encouraged indoors as space allows. Assigned seating will be required in classrooms.
• In-Person Gatherings—In-person gatherings, meetings, and events are allowed with no restrictions or limitations. 

All district schools and buildings will continue to be cleaned, disinfected, and fogged nightly with hospital-grade disinfectants as a precautionary measure. Hand sanitizer and other cleaning and disinfecting supplies will be provided in all school, buildings, and buses.

• Schools and buildings are allowed to have visitors, including after-school program staff, as well as parents and community members who have been approved through the Volunteers in Public Schools (VIPS) program and have appointments. Parents registering their children for school are also allowed.

  Masks are highly encouraged for visitors who may need additional layers of protection or who are currently sick. Visitors experiencing symptoms of a recognized communicable disease must stay home and will not be allowed on HISD premises.

  For more information on VIPS and to register as a volunteer: HoustonISD.org/VIPS. 

• Wireless hotspot devices will be made available to any student who does not have access to broadband internet at home. Parents should contact their campus for technology needs.

• Yes. Digital resources and learning materials are still available to all students and staff through the HISD HUB. These resources include digital lessons in the HUB, Imagine Math, Imagine Language, MyOn, and MackinVIA.

• Transportation Services is resuming normal operations and bus service at full capacity. Students and bus operators are highly encouraged to wear masks when needing additional layers of protection or are sick. Assigned seating is no longer required.

  Students must sanitize their hands and scan their bus badge upon boarding. Buses will be cleaned and sanitized regularly with hospital-grade disinfectant as a precautionary measure. Each bus will be equipped with hand sanitizer, disinfectant, towels, and first aid supplies.

  All students are required to self-monitor and should stay home if experiencing symptoms of a recognized communicable disease.

  For more information, visit HoustonISD.org/Transportation.

• Nutrition Services is resuming normal operations and offerings, including breakfast in the classroom and lunch in the cafeteria, as well as snack and dinner service at select campuses. All student health, medical and special dietary needs, as well as allergy concerns, will be accommodated.
  
  All schools will continue to operate under the Universal Free Breakfast program. Houston ISD will continue its policy to operate the Community Eligibility Program (CEP) under the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program for the School Year 2022 - 2023. Schools qualifying to operate CEP serve breakfast and lunch to all children at no charge and eliminate the collection of meal applications for free, reduced-price, and paid student meals. This approach reduces burdens for both families and school administrators and helps ensure that students receive nutritious meals.
  
  The following schools listed will transition to completing the Free and Reduced - Price Meals Household Application for School Year 2022 - 2023. The application process will identify each student as Free, Reduced, or Paid for all meals/snacks consumed. Student eligibility status is kept confidential. The application and instructions will be available online, and hard copies will also be available.
  
  
  • Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (Kinder HSPVA)
  • Harvard Elementary
  • Horn Elementary
  • Mark Twain Elementary
  • Travis Elementary
  • Oak Forest Elementary
  • River Oaks Elementary
  • West University Elementary
  • Roberts Elementary

• Competitive food sales — food sold by schools, parent groups, booster clubs, and outside vendors — are prohibited.

• Competitions and practices, as well as extracurricular activities and performances, will take place following campus guidelines.

  All indoor and outdoor competitions, practices, and extracurricular activities/performances occurring at HISD facilities will allow spectators.

  Masks are optional and highly encouraged for attendees needing additional layers of protection or are sick.

• Non-athletic field trips, including enrichment and curricular trips, are permitted with no restrictions or limitations.

• Yes. All athletic competitions and practices and on-campus extracurricular activities are permitted following campus guidelines.

• Every student with disabilities who is enrolled on a physical HISD campus is eligible.

• TDLP is discussed and agreed-upon during the ARD-IEP committee meeting. It is an official ARD-IEP document and cannot be discussed or agreed upon outside of the ARD-IEP process.
• TDLP documents for students with disabilities include selected goals, accommodations, services that will be provided and the method of delivery (synchronous/asynchronous) to ensure continuity of learning while engaged in virtual instruction or remote conferencing.

• TDLP is not applicable when students with disabilities return to face-to-face instruction. Full execution of the IEP occurs upon the students return to face-to-face instruction.

• In-State Transfers: 30 days to conduct an ARD-IEP to address special education services for the incoming student. The TDLP must be addressed during the transfer ARD process. Students within the state of Texas, as a federal and state requirement, must have a virtual instruction or remote conferencing contingency plan or an ARD amendment to address student services. This document should accompany the incoming IEP. Should the need arise for virtual instruction or remote conferencing, execute with fidelity. This contingency plan/amendment must be executed and in place until the transfer ARD has been conducted.
• Out-of-State Transfers: For students receiving special education services that transfer from other states, the incoming IEP must be executed until the transfer ARD/IEP meeting occurs within the first 30 days of enrollment. These students may or may not have a virtual instruction or remote conferencing plan already in place. Should the need arise for the student to access virtual instruction or remote conferencing, the current IEP should be implemented to the maximum extent possible. An ARD/IEP meeting should be convened as soon as possible and a TDLP developed and reviewed. If special education services are not implemented during the period of virtual instruction or remote conferencing, then compensatory services should be considered at the next ARD/IEP meeting.

HISD, the Houston Health Department, and Fulgent Genetics are partnering to provide school-based COVID-19 testing. The free screening testing is voluntary and will be offered to students and staff. Students will only be tested if their parent/guardian provides consent. Screening testing will be offered to everyone even if they don’t have symptoms of COVID-19.

Regular testing is a safe, effective way to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and help keep our schools open for in-person learning. Many people with COVID-19, especially children and teens, don’t have symptoms but can still spread the virus, so screening testing helps find infections before they spread to others. This is especially important for children who are unvaccinated, staff with younger children at home, and others who are not vaccinated or are otherwise at risk for getting seriously sick from COVID-19.

Testing results will be shared only for public health purposes, which may include notifying a COVID-19 positive individual to quarantine and identifying close contacts. Information sharing and notifying of contacts will be done in a way that protects your privacy. Sharing of information will only be done in accordance with state and federal law and policies protecting privacy.

The consent process is digital only and can be accessed through this website: HoustonISD.org/COVIDtesting The consent process must be completed before an individual can be tested. Consent is individual and site specific - meaning a student or staff member of a specific school can only be tested at that school.

As soon as a parent/guardian of a minor gives consent the student is eligible to receive a test. A parent/guardian can consent to test the day-of testing as well.

Students and staff members can always turn down testing. The staff member or student should simply let the school’s point of contact know that they do not want to be tested that day and the Point of Contact can move on to pull the next student or staff member.

Participants or the guardians of participants can deactivate their profile by emailing: cshou@fulgentgenetics.com.

Fulgent and HISD will work together to update the information on a regular basis.

If Fulgent staff are on site, then the student or staff member is immediately eligible to be tested as soon as their consent form is completed. If Fulgent staff are not on site, the student or staff member will be eligible to be tested on the next Test Day.

Completion of digital consent is required for any student or staff member to be tested. School staff are welcome to share the process for granting consent with staff, adult students, or the parents/guardians of a minor. Once consent has been completed, the staff member or student is immediately eligible for testing.

The PCR tests will be conducted with a short, shallow nose swab that only goes half to three-quarters of an inch into the nose and is rotated three times in each nostril. These are not nasopharyngeal swabs that collect specimen from deeper in the nasopharynx. The short, shallow swab is administered by a qualified medical professional from Fulgent Genetics.

PCR tests detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and are highly accurate and considered the gold standard by the CDC.

Screening testing will occur biweekly for campuses.

Participating schools will designate an appropriate room or area on-campus that can accommodate a steady flow of testers. This area will be private.

We encourage schools to consider selecting another staff member to be the point of contact and collaborate with the school nurse.

Younger students will be escorted to the testing room by the point of contact. Older students will be called down to the testing room.

The point of contact will bring the specimen collection kit to the teacher, who will self-swab. Self-swab instructions can be found here. Once completed, the point of contact will walk back to the testing area and give the specimen to the Fulgent testing staff.

The Fulgent Genetics testing team will work quickly and efficiently to ensure that testing is not disruptive to students or staff.

The consent process requires an email address or phone number - depending on which is provided, Fulgent will email or text a notification to staff, students and/or parents/guardians of minors when test results are ready to be accessed.

The results of the test should be available within 48 hours, but often the turnaround time is quicker than that. Fulgent Genetics will send a notification to staff and consenting parents/guardians through a secure online platform to get their test result.

School nurses will have access to Fulgent’s system which will provide access to positive test results.

Our testing program uses PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests that are analyzed in a certified laboratory. These tests do not provide immediate results.

Students and staff who test positive will be instructed to follow HISD guidelines for isolation. In addition, staff and students that test positive will be temporarily removed from the testing program for 90 days. This temporary removal is because PCR tests detect viral genetic material that may stay in the body for up to 90 days after a person tests positive.

To the extent possible, Fulgent will keep a school’s scheduled testing window consistent. Scheduling changes will be limited as much as possible.

If your next testing window falls on a HISD holiday or school closure day, your testing day will be skipped.

The Fulgent testing staff are on a fixed schedule and will test at a specific time and weekday. Any planned early dismissal, school closure or disruption to this fixed schedule should be communicated to Fulgent at least one week in advance at cshou@fulgentgenetics.com or 346-803-5828 Option 2.