As Victoria ISD continues to seek best practices for supporting teachers and students
throughout the 2021-2022 school year, the district will be suspending Victoria Virtual School
(VVS), the remote conferencing system, in favor of allocating staff where they are most
needed.
The last day of VVS will be Thursday, Oct. 14.
VVS launched on Sept. 8 as an instructional option for students who were unable to attend
school due to temporary medical-related conditions, including COVID-19. Remote
conferencing is a Texas Education Agency-approved method of live instruction for students
who meet certain requirements. In accordance with TEA guidelines, students in a remotelearning setting are not permitted to be instructed by a teacher who is also teaching inperson students at the same time. VVS classes were offered daily from 4-8 p.m. and were
taught by VISD teachers.
Over the course of the last two weeks, the district has seen a significant and steady decline
in enrollment and attendance for the VVS program which is designed for students who have
tested positive for COVID-19 or live in the home with an individual who has tested positive
for the virus.
On Monday, Oct. 4, only nine students participated in the virtual program. The 32 students
currently enrolled in the program are in the process of being notified and will continue to be
supported as all students are during absences from school.
Moving forward, students who are absent will obtain the assignments they miss during their
absence directly from their campus or teacher. Students will have the opportunity to
complete all missed work as outlined in the VISD Student Handbook, but the district will not
be providing online synchronous instruction.
“We continue to monitor the needs of our school community and make adjustments as we
work to serve our students during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Tammy Sestak, assistant
superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction, and Accountability. “Providing VVS remote
conferencing during our peak of COVID-19 student cases allowed us to support a large
number of students; however, at this time, COVID-19 student cases have dropped which
allows us to redirect resources to support and enhance on-campus instruction and extended
day opportunities.”