Listen to your Bearcat and Lady Cat sporting events at https://network1sports.com/station/bearcatsonline
With schools closing all around the Big Country, I want to let everyone know how Hawley ISD is doing with COVID and student absences. We currently have 15 “active” cases. I am counting active to be within 10 days of the district being notified of a positive test result. Of those cases, 10 are students and 5 are staff. Some of the cases are clustered among families. They are also spread out pretty proportionally across campuses. We have several students that are staying in quarantine by parent choice, due to exposure. We also still have normal childhood illnesses that typically kick in a few weeks after school starts. Over the last three days our average number of absences have been around 58 students. That is equivalent to around 93% of kids still in attendance. It’s is very common during the height of flu season for us to dip down into the upper to mid 80% attendance rates. Although we like to see above 95% everyday, I am not alarmed with 93% under the circumstances. We will continue to “stay the course” and monitor attendance. When deciding to close schools, superintendents take into account several factors other than just the attendance rate. The primary concern is having enough available healthy staff to serve kids. We continue to sanitize and routinely use a Clorox misting machine in areas of concern, so closing to sanitize isn’t really going to accomplish more than what we are already doing. I also monitor how our absences are spread out across the district. Four kids all in one family who are ill is different that four kids from separate families who are possibly exposing multiple other siblings. There isn’t a magic answer to the “when” we would have to close. We were able to stay open every single day last year, with the exception of a freak winter event that froze the entire state. Our goal is to have school open every day this year. We will certainly communicate with families if closure is ever even on our radar.
Hawley ISD is maintaining a COVID Dashboard so that you can see the most updated count of active COVID cases in the district. I will only be pushing notifications through the app on Monday mornings, but you can see the most latest numbers at any time at the bottom of our website.
This week's pep rally will be held at the football field at 7:55. Parents and community are welcome to attend. Parents who DO NOT want their child to attend should contact the campus office.
Meet the Bearcats!
All HISD students will receive a free breakfast and lunch. Students who would like to purchase a second meal or purchase from the snack bar can add money their account. If you want to add money to their MySchoolBucks account, go to
https://www.myschoolbucks.com/ver2/getmain.action?clientKey=&requestAction=home
Attached is the snack bar menu!!
It's pep rally time!!! Don't forget to show your spirit on dress up days! Pep rallies will be open to parents and will be in the gymnasium at 7:55am. Elementary students will report to their normal drop offs and will be taken over to the gym from breakfast.
Reporting requirements for districts have changed for the 2021-22 school year. We are no longer required to report to parents and community when cases are confirmed on campus. We are still required to report weekly the number of confirmed cases to the health department. If your child tests positive, please notify us so we can complete that mandatory reporting. We will leave return decision up to your child’s doctor. For UIL participants, UIL requires a return note from the doctor. District are also not required to complete contact tracing. As a curtesy, we will continue to contact parents and staff who have been in close contact. I will also continue to post updates on case counts. These notices are provided as information only, so that families can make informed choices about their own health. The district will not be requiring individuals who have been in close contact to quarantine. However, we ask that those individuals monitor closely for symptoms. Parents, please keep your kids home if they are ill….with anything…flu, strep, stomach bug, or COVID. We will have to all be working together to make it through the school year. I expect changes from the state as we progress. That just seems inevitable. However, this is the state of the situation as I know it to be right now.
The admin office has been hit hard with COVID. We are running VERY short staffed and the ones who are not presenting with symptoms may still have been exposed. I will be forwarding our main phone line to my extension. If I am unable to pick up, PLEASE leave a message. Our messages forward to our emails, so I can access them instantly from my cell phone. Please be patient with us. We are trying to be cautious and limit our contact with anyone outside the office. If I need to be on campus, I will be wearing a mask.
At this time, we still do not have a agreement by Anson ISD and Abilene ISD to transport inside their district.
Here are the new pickup places for the following bus routes
Devin's-Bus #26 Corner of FM3326 & 484- No time change
Mary Lee's-Bus #28- Corner of State HWY 277 & CR320- 7:10 AM
Tommie's- Bus #29- Corner of CR341 & CR347
From Nurse Leindy:
Elementary student Medication drop off will be Monday 8/16 & Tuesday 8/17 from 1:00- 6:30 each day in the elementary office. Medication must be in original containers. Paperwork is required and can be picked up from Nurse Leindy during meet the teacher this week. If you have any questions please contact the elementary office
We’ve had a slight delay in the new playground. The structure is in, but the bonding agent that does the pour-in-place surfacing underneath the structure was delayed. They plan to pour the structure the 18-20. We certainly hopes to have it all ready for the first day of school but conditions globally are causing issues. Please help us encourage kids to be patient just a little bit longer.
Hawley parents…..UIL has informed schools that if a student in athletics or marching band tests positive for COVID they must have a doctor’s note to return to activities.
Hawley ISD COVID procedures as of today:
More than anything...I want your babies to be safe. We will continue to sanitize and monitor state and local guidance.
Staff and students will not be required to wear masks, but are allowed to if they choose.
A vaccine will not be required and individuals will not be treated any differently based on whichever decision your family chose to make.
Parents will make the decision about close contact to determine if their child has been exposed and should quarantine. The district will not be making quarantine decisions. I am more than happy to visit with parents who are trying to make that call for their child.
If you have COVID cases in your household, but the student or staff member is not experiencing any symptoms, we ask that you monitor symptoms closely and take all necessary precautions to reduce the possibility of transmission as much as possible.
If a child or staff member has COVID, they must stay home until they are fever free for 24 hours, and symptoms have improved. We are really going to need parent help on this one! If you know that is what your child has, please help us keep everyone else from getting it. This is also true for flu, strep, stomach bug.....any of the yuckies that we don't want to spread.
We did receive information yesterday that there may be a possibility of providing some type of instruction to students who are home for an extended period of time, and still count them present. Right now, we have to figure out if we can make that work. The restrictions really only make it a workable solution for very large districts. We will continue to monitor state guidance on that situation.
As of right now, there are no limitations or restrictions on athletic events by UIL. We will sell tickets at the gates, just like we did before COVID. We will not do any presales. Other schools may continue those practices. We will do our best to communicate with you, depending on what that school sends out.
We are excited about the upcoming school year! We hope to have a much more "normal" school year, but we will continue to monitor state and local conditions related to COVID. For NOW, we plan to allow parents/guests to come eat with their students in the cafeteria. All parents/guests MUST check in at the campus office to get a visitor badge before going to the cafeteria. All students will receive a free breakfast and lunch this year. If they choose to get additional items, or use the snack bar, they will need money on their account. Guest lunch price will be $4.35. One of our concerns with the upcoming year is food and paper good supply. Our food cooperative catalog typically has over 5,000 items to choose from. This year there are about 1,000. The vendor who supplies our chicken usually has about 150 products. This year they are offering 5 choices. We are also now having to order 6 weeks out, rather than our typical weekly turnaround. All of those concerns lead us to the inevitable changes in menus based on what supply is available. We will make sure kids get a meal. We cannot guarantee it will always be what is on the menu. We will do our best to communicate as change happen. We ask for your patience and understanding.
REMINDER....SO FAR ONLY TWO PEOPLE HAVE SIGNED UP. THERE HAVE TO BE 10 FOR THEM TO COME...
Hawley parents!! Many kids need regular routine vaccines (nothing to do with COVID) before school starts. Our nurse has set up a vaccine clinic for eligible students at the Hawley Administration Building on August 12th!!
They will need at least 10 eligible appointments scheduled before they will come.
DSHS immunization Clinic
August 12 @ Hawley School Administration Building
This clinic will help Hawley ISD students needing immunizations prior to the first day of school.
*All incoming 7th grade students must have meningococcal (MCV4), Tdap-booster, and Varicella-booster.
*Pre-k and kindergarten students will need to provide proof of boosters.
*Also it’s never too early for high school students to begin preparing for college - go ahead and get your boosters now.
Contact the Anson DSHS for eligibility and appointments at 325-823-1424. Clinic will be at the Hawley School Administration building on August 12th.
Tickets will be sold online at the following website for Volleyball games hosted by Jim Ned.
https://www.jimned.esc14.net/page/Tickets
We will not be selling tickets at the gate. Children under 5 will not need a ticket.
No cash will be exchanged at the gate so please make sure your parents understand this
Games will be published 2 weeks prior to the game to give people ample time to purchase tickets.
District, Senior Citizen, Coaches, Media Passes will be accepted.
Revised 2-a-days Schedule
Thursday Big Country Preps Mugshots 8AM
Thursday Practice 4PM (Weight Room 1st)
Friday Practice 9AM
Saturday Practice 9AM (inter-squad Scrimmage)
Volleyball scrimmage schedule
Hawley ISD school day for 2021-22 is from 7:50-3:40. We will have one single bus drop off and departure location in front of the elementary. Parents picking up children from multiple campuses will pick up all siblings in front of the old gym like we did last year.