Alief Isd Calendar 2023-2024

Alief Isd Calendar 2023-2024 – 1 of 13 Second-grade Best Elementary School student Christopher Alvarenga practices counting during a math intervention class Thursday, April 8, 2021, at Alief ISD. Marie D. De Jesús, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photo Show more Show less

2 of 13 Best Elementary School Math Intervention Maya Medina and second grader Orlando Bravo review math exercises during class Thursday, April 8, 2021, at Alief ISD. Alief leaders hope to hire more staff with federal stimulus money, allowing them to provide more training in small groups while making up for ground lost during the pandemic. Marie D. De Jesús, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer Show more Show less

Alief Isd Calendar 2023-2024

3 of 13 Best Elementary School second grader Leslie Garcia practices counting during a math intervention class Thursday, April 8, 2021, at Alief ISD. Marie D. De Jesus, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer Show more Show less

Pre Kindergarten And Kindergarten Registration / Early Childhood Registration Information

4 of 13 Alief ISD Elementary School's best language arts teacher talks to his fourth-grade students during class, Thursday, April 8, 2021, at Alief. Marie D. De Jesús, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer

5 of 13 Best Elementary School Interventionist Mayra Medina reviews concepts involving counting coins while purchasing items during class Thursday, April 8, 2021, at the Alief ISD campus. Aliff Superintendent HD Chambers said he wants to spend the "vast majority" of federal stimulus money allocated to his district on staff-related costs, which would allow his district to expand math interventions. Marie D. De Jesus, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer

6 of 13 Best Elementary School Second grader Leslie Garcia practices counting coins during a math intervention class Thursday, April 8, 2021, at Alief ISD. Marie D. De Jesús, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer

Multilingual Programs Department / Two Way Dual Language Immersion Model

7 of 13 fourth graders participate in language arts class on Thursday, April 8, 2021, at Alief ISD's Best Elementary School. Marie D. De Jesús, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer Show more Show less

8 of 13 Best Elementary School second-grader Jose Marcos works with his math intervention teacher on how to count coins during class Thursday, April 8, 2021, at Alief ISD. Marie D. De Jesús, Houston Chronicle / Photographer team Show more Show less

9 of 13 Best Elementary School Math Mayra Medina works with her second-grade students on how to apply math to purchasing items during class Thursday, April 8, 2021, at the Alief ISD campus. Marie D. De Jesús, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer Show MoreShow Less

Pre Kindergarten And Kindergarten Registration / 2022 Kindergarten Round Up

10 of 13 Elementary school best math interventionist Maya Medina works with her second-grade students during class Thursday, April 8, 2021, on the Alief ISD campus. Marie D. De Jesús, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer

11 of 13 Best Elementary School second grader Orlando Bravo learns about applying math to learn to count coins during an intervention class Thursday, April 8, 2021, at the Alief ISD campus.Marie D. De Jesús, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer Show More Show less

12 of 13 Best Elementary School second-grader Jose Marcos works on counting coins during a math intervention class Thursday, April 8, 2021, at Alief ISD. Marie D. De Jesús, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer

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13 of 13 A bottle of hand sanitizer sits on the edge of a fourth-grader's desk at Alief ISD's best elementary school. Marie D. De Jesús, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer Show more Show less

As students filled classrooms Thursday morning at Best Elementary School, four second-graders gathered in a hidden corner of the Alief ISD campus, using plastic coins to learn how to count money.

The special instruction, in small groups, is an important tool to catch up with students who are struggling academically – a group whose numbers have grown during the epidemic. Alief officials hope to use some of the billions of dollars in federal stimulus money in the coming years to hire additional staff that will allow them to give students more one-on-one attention.

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"The need for this type of intervention is heightened because of the academic losses we're going to have here," said Best Elementary Principal Renee Canales, who estimated that 30 percent of her students remain in online-only classes.

As state lawmakers haggle over how to spend the roughly $18 billion in stimulus money allocated to Texas schools, education and nonprofit leaders are beginning to identify ways they want to spend the money as the end of the COVID-19 pandemic looms.

The exact needs will vary by school district, but several top education officials identified similar spending priorities in interviews and public statements. They include hiring new staff, extending the school day and year, adding tutoring services and responding to the psychological needs of the students.

School Calendars 2024/2025

Texas public school leaders still have no idea how much federal stimulus money they will receive, when the funds will start flowing or what strings will be attached to the cash. However, the tight deadline for spending billions — in late 2023 or 2024 — combined with the expected onslaught of recruiting and buying makes early planning important, education executives said.

Federal lawmakers passed three stimulus packages containing nearly $20 billion for Texas public and private schools, equal to about one-third of the annual spending on all public school operating costs in the state. Districts that serve higher percentages of lower-income students — such as Houston, Alief, Aldine and Pasadena ISDs — will receive a larger share of the money.

State leaders transferred the first set of funds, about $1 billion, to schools in mid-2020, but they withheld a similar amount of state money to fill other holes in the education budget. Texas lawmakers are expected to take a similar approach with at least some of the remaining $18 billion. They could also dictate how some of the money should be spent, to the frustration of many educators.

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"We have what we want to do, but it will all depend on how the state releases those dollars to the school districts," said Houston ISD Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan, whose district is set to receive more than $1 billion.

For many school leaders, the money meets the need. District officials reported higher failure rates in the classroom, enrollment declines in lower grades and increased mental health issues, among other issues. Initial standardized test scores also indicate significant losses in math achievement, with a smaller slide in reading.

First, they usually recognize the need for more teachers, support staff, and outside helpers, such as tutors. The additional bodies will help reduce class sizes, increase opportunities for small group instruction, give teachers more planning time and reduce caseloads for staff dealing with students' non-academic needs.

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Alief ISD Superintendent HD Chambers said he would like to use the "vast majority" of the stimulus money to add employees. Chambers said some of those will be retained for the long term, eventually filling roles for employees who will retire between now and 2024, while others will remain for a short, predetermined time.

"The most important component of our programs is identifying children and their needs, and then using district resources to reduce the number of students that adults are responsible for," Chambers said. "With a lot of our students, especially our English language learners, even five or six students with one adult can be a little much."

Another top priority: giving students more time with school staff. Several of the state's largest districts have added or proposed adding optional days for the 2021-22 school year, including Houston and Dallas ISDs. Other districts may use minutes to the bell schedule or add days in 2022-23, when the funding and public health outlook will be clearer.

Alief Isd Among 5 Houston Area School Districts Beginning Classes Monday

"I think the timing issue will be part of the long-term solution for us," Texas Education Commissioner Mike Murat told lawmakers last month.

Some districts can also use federal funds to offer retention bonuses, with the goal of rewarding staff and preventing retirements and resignations after a grueling year. While fears of massive employee losses amid the pandemic have not materialized, some managers are concerned about losing senior staff members in the coming months and years.

"I think the retention scholarships are going to mean a lot to our staff, and I think it's going to have a real impact on our students," Pasadena Superintendent Diane Powell said. "The longer we can keep (employees) engaged in the classroom and firing on all cylinders, that's what we need."

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Education leaders floated many other methods of spending stimulus money: buying more technology, acquiring new learning programs, recouping additional costs related to COVID from the past 13 months, and upgrading heating, cooling and ventilation systems, among others.

A sudden influx of cash will require quick and drastic changes in public school districts, which are not known for their agility. Matthew Kraft, an associate professor of education at Brown University who has proposed billions of dollars in training investments, said he expects to see mixed results.

"I'm optimistic that there will be some shining examples of successes, but whether they can be replicated is, frankly, not something that there's a lot of history or evidence of in education reform in this country," Craft said.

Texas School Calendar 2022 And 2023

Already, some educators are sounding the alarm about a potential workforce shortage complicating scaling-up efforts. They fear that demand for retired teachers, tutors and part-time job seekers will outstrip supply.

Ann McClellan, who oversees the University of Houston's Cougar Mentor Initiative, said most of the major districts in the area have already contacted her about availability. About 100 undergraduates and graduate students tutor part-time in Houston ISD

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