After a smooth start to the school year, given the virtual requirements through Sept. 8, Katy ISD is adding more safety monitoring with COVID-19 testing for employees and taking steps to identify a permanent moniker for Junior High No. 17.

Testing Teachers

In a Sept. 1 press release, the district announced that it will be offering COVID-19 testing to its more than 11,000 staff members not only by providing personal protective equipment – or PPE – to its staff and student body, but also offering COVID-19 testing to faculty and staff.

“We want our Katy ISD employees to have a quick and convenient location where they can get tested, whether they have been exposed to a positive case or believe to have had close contact with someone experiencing symptoms,” said Director of Risk Management for KISD Lance Nauman.

Testing will be done through partnerships with RediMD and UTMB-Galveston. An in-district site has been established and will be open only to district staff between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. according to a district press release. Testing is free of charge to all KISD employees who were potentially exposed to a COVID-19 case whether at work or not and qualifying dependents under the KISD health plan. Uninsured KISD employees may also be tested, but their families are ineligible.

No appointment is necessary for the testing which will be conducted at the Agriculture Sciences Center located at 5825 Katy Hockley Cut-Off road just north of the city of Katy. Staff will be tested on a first-come first-served basis.

“The testing site is located within the District, with a 48-hour turnaround time for results,” Nauman said.

Naming Junior

Katy Junior High 17 will need a proper name before it begins operations during the 2021-22 school year and Katy ISD Superintendent Ken Gregorski was given the go ahead at the Aug. meeting to form a committee to decide upon the new campus’ name.

Trustee Dawn Champagne has volunteered to serve on the committee, but a roster of appointees has not been set at this time, a KISD representative said Tuesday. Parents of students who will be zoned to the new school may nominate themselves for the committee and principals may nominate parents whose children will attend the new school as well.

To submit a naming nomination for the new junior high school which is being built in the southeastern corner of the intersection of Katy Hockley and Clay Roads must  complete a nomination form which is available on the district’s website, provide biographical and historical information for the honoree the school may be named for, describe significant contributions that person has made to the community and an overall statement on why the campus should be named for the nominee.

The $65.6 million school campus is currently being built by Drymala Construction and was designed by PBK Architects. Funding was approved for the project by voters through a bond package in 2017 according to the district’s website.

The deadline for submitting a name proposal is Sept. 10 at 4 p.m. and submissions may be emailed to schoolnaming@katyisd.org or dropped off in-person at the district’s Education Support Complex located at 6301 S. Stadium Lane in Katy. Those wishing to mail their submission in may send the nomination to Katy ISD School/Facility Naming, School & Community Engagement, P. O. Box 159, Katy, TX  77492-0159.