Katy ISD February News
KATY INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
DATES TO REMEMBER
February 18th-21st: Family Weekend (No Homework Assigned)
February 21st: Professional Learning Day • No Students
KATY ISD TRUSTEES TO PARTICIPATE IN FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND STATE ADVOCACY PROGRAM
​Katy ISD's school board is one of nine boards from across Texas selected to participate in the newly formed Raise Your Hand Texas Trustee Advocates Program. The program aims to provide trustees and their superintendents the tools they need to positively influence policy-making – ensuring the perspectives, values and priorities of school districts are at the forefront of legislative deliberations pertaining to children and schools.
“Legislative decisions made in Austin have an impact on all Texas school districts and the millions of students and families they serve," said Superintendent Ken Gregorski. “The advocacy training and work with Raise Your Hand Texas will expand beyond our Trustees and myself," added Gregorski.
Over the course of the inaugural 18-month program, participants will learn to build a local public education advocacy network that encourages school district communities to build awareness on state legislative issues. Additionally, local school leaders will share expertise and critical information with policymakers developing legislative bills.
“School trustees provide education oversight and citizen governance to their public schools and larger communities," said Dr. Libby Cohen, Raise Your Hand Texas' senior director of advocacy and outreach. “Katy ISD serves a large number of Texas students, and we are ready to partner with them on their advocacy efforts because these local leaders bring critically important expertise and insight that will be valuable to state policymakers," added Cohen.
A total of 27 school districts applied to participate in the Raise Your Hand Texas Trustee Advocates Program and nine were selected.
KATY ISD APPROVES 2023-2024 INSTRUCTIONAL CALENDAR
During December’s Katy Independent School District monthly Board meeting, the Board of Trustees approved the instructional calendar for the 2023-2024 academic year. The calendar includes the following highlights:
Wednesday, August 16, 2023: First Day of School
Friday, May 17, 2024: Last Day of School for Seniors
Thursday, May 23, 2024: Last Day of School
“Every fall Katy ISD seeks community feedback for the development of future instructional calendars,” said Sherri Ashorn, Discipline and SHARS Administrator. “Through a community survey sent out in November, participants provided input indicating this calendar as the favorable option,” added Ashorn.
As a District of Innovation, authorized under House Bill 1842, Katy ISD has the flexibility to obtain exemptions from certain provisions in the Texas Education Code that allow changes to the instructional calendar. The approved calendar also provides teachers two professional development days in August 2023 as well as five additional days of professional learning throughout the school year. Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Martin Luther King Day, Good Friday and Memorial Day are District holidays. Katy ISD will continue providing a full week off for Thanksgiving, two weeks for Christmas and New Year’s, as well as one week off for Spring Break.
COVID-19 PROTOCOLS UPDATES
NEW SAFE RETURN TO SCHOOL PLAN - Updated 01/18/2022
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Have COVID-19 symptoms
- Are awaiting a COVID-19 test result
- Are test-confirmed for COVID-19
Reminder:
Quarantine protocol for students who test positive is 10 days as per the Texas Education Agency (TEA) Public Health Guidance and the state Department of State Health Services (DSHS) COVID-19 School Readmission Criteria.
Intermittent School to Home academic support continues to be available for students with extended medical absences. Please contact your child’s campus attendance clerk or Intermittent School to Home Facilitator for assistance.
The Katy ISD Wellness Center (formerly COVID-19 Testing Center) will remain open on Monday, January 17, 2022 from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Location:  5801 Katy Hockley Cut Off Road, Katy, TX  77493
Eligibility:
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All Katy ISD students with a valid student identification.
- All Katy ISD staff with a valid student identification.
COVID-19 Student Appointments: Click on the yellow APPOINTMENT link on the www.katyisd.org homepage to schedule.
Permissions Slips Available On-Site.
Staff Appointments: Staff and their dependents do not require appointments.
Have other questions about COVID testing? Take a moment to check out the Katy ISD COVID Testing Center’s FAQs here.
COVID-19 SELF REPORTING APP
Staff, students and parents are asked to self report if they have received a COVID-19 positive test result. The self-reporting system enables the District’s Emergency Operations Management team to notify individuals in Katy ISD buildings who may have been directly exposed to the person.
INTERMITTENT SCHOOL TO HOME ACADEMIC SUPPORT FOR TEMPORARY MEDICAL CONDITIONS
“Intermittent School to Home” academic support program remains available for eligible students.
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The student is unable to attend school because of a temporary medical condition, AND
- The total amount of remote conferencing “Intermittent School to Home” instruction does not exceed more than 20 instructional days over the entirety of the school year.
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Student’s temporary medical condition is documented by a physician.
- The student has a positive test result for a communicable disease.
- The student has been identified as having been in close contact for COVID-19
Each campus will have an assigned employee to serve as an Intermittent School to Home Campus Facilitator to assist students. Please contact your child’s campus Intermittent School to Home Facilitator to request academic assistance with missed schoolwork.
SECONDARY STUDENT EXTRA-CURRICULAR TRANSPORTATION WAIVER
The Transportation Waiver is available to parents who wish to opt-out of District transportation services for secondary student extra-curricular activities. This opt-out option remains available through the end of the spring 2022 semester. The opt-out form can be accessed through MyKaty Cloud via the Transportation Waiver tile.
DONATUTORS
Donatutors is a nonprofit tutoring organization that donates 100% of our proceeds to charity. All of our tutors are straight-A students at Seven Lakes High school and we offer a multitude of courses like creative writing, computer science, biology, public speaking, ICTW writing and many different math courses too. We charge $20 per class, but the first one is free! For more information, check out donatutors.com or email us at donatutors@gmail.com. What’s even cooler is that this summer Donatutors was able to raise $1,283 which we used 70% to give to a Houston based charity called NAMI and 30% to buy a bunch of masks and canned food for donation. Please check us out!
For more information about what's happening in Katy ISD this month, visit https://www.katyisd.org/Pages/news.aspx.
