By Brittany Anderson
More than a dozen passionate parents and students spoke out about COVID-19 and the upcoming school year during the Dripping Springs ISD school board meeting on July 26.
No final decision was made by the board and the issue will be taken up next month.
While some speakers were satisfied with the board’s safety protocols for the 2021-2022 school year, others were not and called for revisions.
Amy Ezell, a parent and teacher, said that she appreciates the mask choice freedom and looks forward to the coming school year after a year of difficulty.
“I’m thankful that we get to have a normal school year and that children get to engage emotionally and socially,” Ezell said. “I’m grateful that the pandemic is put behind us and we’re moving forward. It’s time to teach and love the children. I would encourage Dripping Springs to be a leader in teaching this year.”
Bill Brandenberger encouraged the district to pass the agenda as is, noting that while there has been 337 reported COVID-19 deaths in children 17 and under, the number pales in comparison to the number of deaths relating to unintentional injury and suicide.
“Numbers support that there has been an increase in adolescent suicide over the last 18 months,” Brandenberger said. “This is no doubt in part to the isolation and sense of despair brought upon unknowing, innocent children due to the fear mongering from adults that did not care to listen to the parents. I implore you: let our kids be kids. You’ve already taken a year and a half away from them. Let’s get on to more important things.”
Conversely, numerous parents, some who were visibly emotional, encouraged the school board to make changes to the safety protocols that keep immunocompromised students in mind and reflect the status of the highly contagious delta variant.
These parents had similar goals for the board, including having virtual learning options, a separate, socially-distanced cafeteria space for masked and unvaccinated children, postponing assemblies and other large events and continuing to utilize the COVID-19 dashboard resource on the DSISD website including contact tracing.
Holly Syrdal implored the school board to make changes to the protocols, saying that they control what schools follow and that lives are in their hands.
“It may not be the popular thing to do to put safety protocols in place, and you might not get re-elected because you do it,” Syrdal said. “But you have an ethical and moral responsibility to the children in this district, as well as their families.”
Melissa Walker said that parents and educators have an obligation to teach their kids to think and care about people other than themselves, and get the opportunity to teach them about true community.
“When we explain why school isn’t normal this year, we aren’t teaching them to live in fear or that someone is taking away their freedoms,” Walker said. “We’re teaching them to be kind and compassionate human beings. I understand all the additional protocols that we want in place might be difficult, but we don’t not do difficult things because they’re hard. We problem solve. We collaborate.”
After the public forum, board member Stefani Reinold made a motion to move the COVID-19 protocols presentation by Superintendent Holly Morris-Kuentz further up in the agenda given the emotion in the room, which was approved.
Morris-Kuentz’s presentation included information on how the school district will operate during the upcoming school year, outlining expectations, sanitation protocols, the phasing approach, social distancing within buildings, buses and cafeterias and more.
Morris-Kuentz reiterated that per Gov. Greg Abbott’s Executive Order, GA-36, school systems cannot require students or staff to wear a mask. She also clarified that the school district is not entirely in control of certain decisions, such as schools being shut down.
Morris-Kuentz said that the finalized safety protocols will be put out next week and will hopefully take into consideration some of the concerns heard from the community.
