The Keller ISD school board has adjusted the Spring 2021 calendar to include a new type of school day on select Fridays — and here’s what it’s all about.

In November 2020, the Keller ISD school board approved switching select Fridays to an early release schedule. The first of these dates is Friday, January 15, 2021.

Find the early release bell schedule below, followed by information for KCAL classes.

KCAL Schedule Jan. 15, 2021

However, during a Jan. 11, 2021 school board workshop meeting, the board switched the following dates — January 29, February 26, March 12, April 16 and April 30 — from the previously mentioned early release schedule to a new type of school day — “asynchronous instruction.”

Click here for the revised 2020-2021 Keller ISD Calendar

In an e-mail to students, staff, and parents, Keller ISD explained the plans for each day:

“On these Asynchronous Instructional Days, students will not attend school in person, but will engage in various ways with their teacher at home through remote means,” the Jan. 11 e-mail stated.

According to the district, these changes were made due to new waivers from the Texas Education Agency.

“These days were made possible due to the Texas Education Agency recently granting school districts waivers to schedule periodic, non-consecutive Asynchronous Instructional Days during the spring,” the district said in the e-mail. “Keller ISD administrators pursued these waivers to provide teachers with additional time to prepare lessons, make instructional adjustments, or perform any other tasks that will allow them to better serve their students in the midst of the additional challenges this school year has presented.”

For most students, the change to “asynchronous” days will allow them to stay at home while interacting with school work. Details from Timber Creek Principal Michelle Somerhalder stated that teachers will be able to use the days to “work with groups of students in person or remotely, lesson planning, reviewing student data, creating common assessments, reviewing assessments, catching up on communication, meeting as a PLC if the PLC wants to, correcting assignments” and more.

Attendance will be taken for each of these days through the remote attendance process, which has been used since the start of the 2020-2021 school year for remote learners.

Additional information on how students will interact with each of their classes will be sent closer to the first asynchronous day on January 29, 2021.