Speculation was lingering among community members as questions arose to what Central would do with classes due to the new Omicron variant of COVID-19, which had been a concern of national and local leaders since last October. This even sparked some concern among some members of administration at the school. Via Aeries, Principal Dr. Lee Hernandez sent out a statement at 2:58 pm CDT today.

Bexar County is experiencing hospital stress and arising new cases everyday, for the first time since the beginning of 2021. Now that the new year has come and gone, three days into 2022, Bexar County is reporting 13,446 new cases in a single day according to data published online by The New York Times. The 7-day average is now at over 2,000 cases.

In the announcement, Hernandez said, “As we continue to monitor the current uptick of COVID cases and San Antonio’s risk level being listed as severe, Central is pivoting to (or transitioning to) asynchronous learning for the remainder of the week (January 5, 6, and 7).”

Adding, “We know the best learning environment for most students is in-person, but after consultation with our teacher-leaders and administrators, it was concluded that we can minimize the loss of full instructional time by providing this model for these next three days. This will also allow our families the flexibility to get vaccinated or receive a booster if you have not already done so. In addition, needed COVID testing can take place without having your son miss school. While we know that remote learning poses some challenges, we want to give time for things to settle from the mass gatherings over the break. We want to do our part in keeping this pandemic under control within our community while attempting to maintain the integrity of the remainder of the school year.”

He is also encouraging those who aren’t vaccinated to do so, and to get booster shots as soon as possible. Until further notice, the change is set to expire this Friday, January 7. In the announcement explains that athletics will continue as scheduled unless otherwise noted by a coach. He also stresses that communication with teachers is key, and that students should reach out to their teachers if they have any problems.

Below is a schedule that is for each respective subject, in which a student may seek virtual assistance from their instructor:

• Math 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
• English 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
• Science 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
• Social Studies 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
• Religion 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
• LOTE 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
• Electives 2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
• Links for these support sessions will be posted in each teacher’s Google Classroom or Aeries.

Below are links to find testing and vaccination sites:

https://covid19.sanantonio.gov/What-YOU-Can-Do/Testing

https://www.cvs.com/minuteclinic/clinic-locator/tx/sanantonio/coronavirus-testing

https://covid19.sanantonio.gov/What-YOU-Can-Do/Vaccination#get-vaccinated