KINGSVILLE, Texas — Students at the Kingsville Independent School District are being released from school for the summer one week early, according to a letter sent out by superintendent Dr. Cissy Reynolds-Perez.
In a letter to students, staff and parents, Reynolds-Perez said the district's first priority is student and staff safety.
"(Friday) will be the last school day for students," she said in the letter. "I’ve been in close discussions with our KISD board about the decision to make (May 27) the last school day. I appreciate their support. Our instructional calendar still has enough excess minutes to allow us to end school today for the students without being penalized."
Reynolds-Perez said because of the tragedy in Uvalde, there has been "an enormous amount of stress and trauma," on those within the district.
"I understand that this change to our school year may be inconvenient for some, however in light of the tragedy in Uvalde, our priority is to do everything possible to reduce trauma and safety risks to our students, staff and parents," Reynolds-Perez said. "I’m hopeful this three-day weekend will give everyone a little extra time to plan for this change to our school year."
She said the district also had added stress this morning, after a "copy-cat threat" was sent to Gillett Middle School in KISD.
"I want to assure you that police were able to immediately trace clear leads to the source of the threat and has been handling it since early this morning," Reynolds-Perez said. "I truly appreciate (Kingsville Police) Chief Torres and the KPD. Thank you to our teachers and staff that showed up this morning to ensure our students were safe. You are heroes."
All ceremonies, awards assemblies, banquets and kinder graduations for the district elementary schools and the high school will be completed by the end of the day Friday.
Reynolds-Perez said Gillett Middle School will have their awards ceremony virtually next week, and more information on that ceremony will be sent out via robocall and social media.
All information for the 2022-23 school year will be posted on social media and the districts website.
The district is also encouraging parents to update contact information on the website, so they can also receive emails with updates about the next school year.
"Each principal will be sending robocalls on Monday afternoon about information specific to their campus such as Senior events, laptop distribution, etc.," Reynolds-Perez said.
"Our students are experiencing too many things in their lives that none of us ever imagined," she added. "In every decision we make and in every word we say, let’s all remember we adults are their role models. They’re watching and learning from every adult in their life. It’s so important to be supportive of each other and of our students."
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