As a parent of young children who attend Peaster ISD, I am struggling to understand why the school continues to defy TEA’s Covid public health guidelines. They do not notify parents of Covid exposure in the classroom and refuse to establish any procedures for those students who have tested positive or who have been exposed. Concerned, I contacted my children’s principal to inquire about the school’s Covid policies/procedures, but she refused to answer my questions. Subsequently, the superintendent emailed me to inform me I couldn’t talk to my children’s principal about any Covid related matters and if I didn’t like how he ran the district I could move or homeschool! Really? I ask about the lack of Covid reporting procedures and I am told to like it or move it; yet, if my children had or were exposed to lice I can go to the student handbook and find three paragraphs outlining my school’s procedures for a lice outbreak! Unlike Covid, lice do not put infected children/classmates in the hospital. Lice do not jeopardize the health of others no matter their underlying health conditions. Lice will not kill you. Lice are visible and very simple to identify. Yet, when it comes to Covid parents are left to figure it out on their own. Currently, Peaster parents are turning to social media groups to determine what they should do after their child tests positive, when to send their kids back to school and does anyone need to be notified. This is dangerous and makes no sense! Why is there detailed guidance if your child has lice but nothing if they have Covid? There appears to be this attitude that if you ignore Covid then it isn’t real. Having just lost a sister to Covid, I know too well how real it is. I am doing all I can to prevent another such tragedy in my family, but when my school district refuses to implement any Covid policies, it is an arduous uphill battle. That said, I hope that my fellow parents/community members will demand that our schools follow the required public health guidance established to keep our children and communities safe.
