Copperas Cove ISD students head back to school, 4,254 on campus and 3,318 at home

By BRITTANY FHOLER 

Cove Leader-Press 

De’ziyah Gilbert, seven, started second grade at House Creek Elementary School Tuesday morning with a smile on her face underneath her face mask.

Gilbert joined thousands of students across Copperas Cove Independent School District in returning to class Tuesday morning. 

Currently, CCISD has 7,572 total students enrolled, with 4,254 partaking in on-campus learning and 3,318 partaking in virtual learning at home. A breakdown of students per campus was not available at press time.

Like the other on-campus students, Gilbert had to be screened for the week by her parent before she could go to school. The weekly screenings, through the Skyward app, ask questions about whether a student has a fever and any COVID-19 related symptoms as well as whether they’ve been exposed to someone with COVID-19. While students have to fill out the screening at the beginning of every week, CCISD staff and faculty fill out the screening every day. 

Gilbert said she wasn’t all that excited to see her friends but rather to see her teacher. She added that her favorite subject is math. 

De’Ziyah’s mom, Shannoda Gilbert, said she felt good about the precautions CCISD was taking to keep students safe. 

“At first, I was uneasy about it but Copperas Cove, they assured us that they’re going to take all the precautions to be safe and stuff like that, and with her going into the second grade, I feel like she needs to be face to face with her teacher so she can get the one-on-one time versus going virtual,” Gilbert said.

Although De’ziyah succeeded in her virtual learning after the campuses were abruptly closed in March after spring break, Gilbert said she does better in the classroom. 

Gilbert said she and her daughter were excited about her starting second grade this year. 

“She’s the baby, and I feel good about sending her to school today,” Gilbert added. “I just commend Copperas Cove by doing the right thing and making sure our kids are safe before allowing them to come in the schools, so I appreciate that and keeping us parents informed.”

In addition to the screenings,  temperature checks, masks and more, the staff at House Creek Elementary spaced out the parent drop-off in the morning by having K-2 students dropped off towardss the back and the 3-5 students dropped off at the front while the four buses dropped off kids in the back parking lot. This helped spread out the traffic of children entering the school and prevented them from gathering in one giant group. 

House Creek Elementary Assistant Principal Jennifer Maples said that parents had been very understanding on the first day. 

“The best thing is just seeing the kids and they’re happy,” Maples said. 

Maples said the staff have been working hard to make sure all protocols are enforced and followed. 

“It’s just a new world, so making sure the teachers know that this is the new norm but we are a team and we’re going to get through this, and so one thing we’ve told our staff is ‘No matter what, we have your back through this,’ and their main job is to teach our students and give them the love and support that they need during this time,” Maples said. 

Maples added that all of the staff and faculty were so excited to have students on campus for the first time since March 6, when they had left for Spring Break and then schools remained closed. 

 “Our teachers love having the children,” Maples said. “Our virtual teachers are even so excited to see those faces again. Our teachers were called for a higher calling and that’s education, so to be away from children as long as they were, it hurt their hearts, and so they are over ecstatic.”

District Communications Director Wendy Sledd said the district has tried to be as accommodating as possible in helping parents decide which learning option their student will do, including allowing parents until the day before school started to make changes. 

Sledd said quite a few parents expressed an interest in changing from at-home learning to on-campus learning. Parents had until the day before school started to choose and change their student’s learning option. Now that school has started, parents must wait until the first six weeks grading period is completed before they are able to change their student’s learning option. 

“Ideally, we want them on campus because it’s easier for us to provide their meals, provide instruction, help them, but certainly we’re here to serve all children,” Sledd added. 

After campuses closed in March, the district provided to-go meals for all students at no cost. Students on campus will be able to eat breakfast and lunch at school, but the district is also providing meals for at-home learning students this year. 

Parents will pick up their student’s lunch along with breakfast for the next day from their student’s assigned campus. 

Unlike last semester’s grab and go lunches, which were no cost to the students, this year, students are still required to use their assigned meal eligibility status for which their household was approved.

Breakfasts is free for all students. Students who qualify for free meals will receive their lunch for free. Students who qualify for reduced lunch must pay 40 cents for lunch each day. Students who qualify for a full-paid lunch will be required to pay either $2.50 for an elementary lunch, $2.70 for a junior high lunch or $2.80 for a high school lunch. 

The money for lunch meals should be applied to the student account prior to receiving the meal. There will be no exchanging of money in the drive-thru Grab and Go line for at-home learners.  

The district has also enacted protocol for students who are symptomatic on campus. If a student shows symptoms, like a cough, they would be sent to the school nurse who will take their temperature. If the student has a fever and other COVID-19 related symptoms, the student will be isolated and their parent will be called. 

The parent will then be asked to take the student to go get tested for COVID-19. If the results are negative, the student must be symptom-free for at least 24 hours and must bring their negative results in order to return to school. If a student tests positive, they must stay home from school for 14 days, Sledd said. 

According to the district’s website, if a student is positive, campus administration and health services staff will contact the family of students who came in close contact with a lab-confirmed case of COVID-19, and inform them of additional steps that need to be taken, and contact tracing for lab-confirmed cases will be conducted.