SAN ANTONIO — As school districts prepare to open, so are San Antonio colleges. But starting the fall semester will be a little different as the pandemic continues and the coronavirus remains a threat in the city.
“There is no greater paramount focus than the safety of our students, staff and vendors,” said Adena Williams Loston, president of St. Philips College.
Loston says reopening procedure is something administrators have been formalizing since March, but it hasn’t gotten any easier.
“We’ve made all types of adjustments for our students,” she said.
Like many other schools, all Alamo College campuses have planned for safety measures to ensure students are safe when they return to classrooms.
“Those are the CTE students. Aircraft technology, manufacturing, welding, some of the allied health students where they must have access to equipment,” Loston said.
All students and staff on campus will be required to wear masks, will be screened before entering buildings and will be required to socially distance in classrooms.
All other students will attend classes virtually.
“Some of the things we’ve done is make laptops available to them," Loston said. "They can come to campus and pick up a laptop. If they’re in an environment with no internet, we’ve made (Wifi) hotspots available."
She says she knows there's a strong possibility they’ll see a coronavirus case once they return, but added the university is prepared to handle whatever comes its way.
“There’s 100,000 students and 5,000 employees and it’s not willy-nilly," Loston said. "There is a defined planned protocol process in place for the Alamo Colleges."