Superintendent Lynn Torres

Superintendent Lynn Torres updated the trustees today on the district’s coronavirus response plan at the board’s regularly scheduled work session meeting at the Lufkin ISD Administration Building.

Currently, the district is providing free breakfast and lunch for students at three locations in the district, Brandon Elementary, Slack Elementary, and Lufkin High School. If schools continue to stay closed next week, more locations will be added with the possibility of busing food and curriculum to hubs around the community.

Mrs. Torres said, “Our Student Nutrition Services department will be coordinating with our Transportation Services department to bus food and curriculum to hubs in the neighborhood. If we create more hubs, we can reach more kids with food and educational materials. We will be outlining those locations and will provide a map on our website and social media.”

A page on the district website is being developed by the Technology Department to provide enrichment resources for students. These resources will include age appropriate activities and virtual field trips to engage students daily.

For now, all school events are indefinitely postponed until further notice. That includes practices, tryouts, concerts, and community events. The Lufkin ISD Job Fair scheduled for March 31st has been postponed. Administrators are looking into doing a virtual job fair. Pre-K and Kindergarten Round-Up will be postponed until a later date. As mentioned by Governor Abbott in the medial already, the STAAR test has been waived for this school year. More details on upcoming events will be provided through the school’s website and social media.

Board President Scott Skelton, said, “I’m proud of our district response and proud of our employees who will help us through this. I encourage our teachers to practice social distancing to help solve the problem. The more they stay in, the quicker we get kids back.”

The board will meet on Thursday to make some quick decisions and recommends that the public not attend the meeting to ensure social distancing. Superintendent Mrs. Torres will give a weekly report to the board on Tuesdays at 4 p.m.