Carroll school district parents plan protest, call for mask mandate as COVID cases rise
Some parents in the Carroll school district are planning a protest Monday afternoon to call for a mask mandate and other COVID-19 safety protocols.
The protest will begin at 3:45 p.m. Monday at the administration building, 2400 North Carroll Ave. in Southlake, which is also where the school board meets.
The parents have been organizing and discussing their concerns in a private social media group, said Sravan Krishna, a parent who is helping to plan the protest.
“It’s a crazy mess right now,” he said.
District officials did not return messages seeking comment Friday.
The protest is coming at a time when 1,000 students and teachers are in quarantine in the Fort Worth school district and as hospitalizations increase.
On Friday, 908 students and 185 employees in Fort Worth ISD were out of school on active quarantine, district spokesperson Barbara Griffith said.
Krishna said now that the Texas Supreme Court paved the way for school districts to temporarily allow mask mandates to remain in place, Carroll needs to address their concerns.
The Texas Education Agency also issued updated guidance for school districts, saying they must report positive cases to staff, teachers and students’ families.
“Since the governor’s ban is no longer effective, we are asking the ISD to institute a mask mandate as per the American Association of Pediatrics guidelines,” he said. “We would like the ISD to be transparent about notifying all the cases, even TEA agrees with that now in their modified guidance, contact tracing and quarantine.
“We need a virtual option so that people who need to quarantine or people who have children that cannot can have access to public education in a non-disruptive manner.”
Krishna said the parents are also asking for a remote learning option which isn’t available in Carroll.
Other North Texas districts have temporary virtual learning options in place, and the Hurst-Euless-Bedford school board will decide Monday whether to offer temporary remote instruction for students in kindergarten through sixth grade.
Krishna said that he and other parents have contacted school board members and administrators and are waiting for a response.
This story was originally published August 22, 2021 at 3:16 PM.