Parents Show Up In Droves To Lewisville ISD School Board Meeting To Share Opinions On Masks
LEWISVILLE, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Dozens of parents addressed the Lewisville ISD school board Monday night, Sept. 13, about an issue that wasn't even on the agenda: Masks.
As a family practice physician, Dr. Joseph Patrick Santiago said he has been watching the effect the COVID-19 delta variant is having on his community closely. "I've been tracking pediatric cases and we've literally had a doubling of the number of pediatric COVID cases in Denton County since the start of school on August 11th," he said.
This was the Lewisville ISD parent's second time to address the Lewisville ISD school board to ask for a district wide mask mandate. The school district reported 364 cases of COVID-19 last week, with students having Monday off. That's slightly down from 399 cases the week prior.
"Clearly there's something driving the fact that children are getting infected at a greater rate than adults here in Denton County and that's that the school districts really don't have mask mandates in place," he said.
Not everyone attending the meeting agreed.
"I don't think the science is there," Lewisville ISD parent Cathleen Hayhurst said. "So I think I should be up to the parents and I believe in freedom and I teach that to my children."
"They're not supposed to be involved with making decisions for the parents, it's really as simple as that," parent Louis Weisaid.
A spokesperson for LISD says the district continues to request masking in schools, but does not intend to defy Gov. Greg Abbott's executive order regarding mandatory masking. It plans to let current court challenges play out and then will make decisions once there is clear legal guidance in place.
