FRISCO, Texas — Parents in a North Texas school district are asking for three things: mask mandates, hybrid learning options and portable air purifiers.
Kelly Karthik has two kids in high school at Frisco ISD. She is also a member of the group Unified Parents of FISD.
“This is our fourth protest today. We have created letters [and] petitions we want to be added to the emergency agenda for a mask mandate,” Karthik said.
Parents are also asking for a safer lunch break — specifically, portable air purifiers in the cafeteria. Karthik said she is doing this for her two children.
“…I feel bad for them that they’re gong though the trouble of wearing a mask to school every day and then taking it off at lunch. And just exposing themselves to all kinds of unknown,” Karthrik said while holding back tears. “I get letters for both of them every week, multiple letters they’ve been exposed… And it makes me feel bad. I don’t feel good about sending my kids to school. It makes me anxious. It makes me upset. During a lunch hour I think about them in that Petri dish, really, of no social distancing and no air purification system. So, some of these kids are going outside. They’re standing there sweating so they can be outside. There’s no tables, no chairs, no shade. They’re literally out there eating as fast as they can and coming back inside.”
The group was wearing all white, with a goal to get on Monday’s school board meeting agenda.
“We need two trustees, just two, to add us to the agenda. It doesn’t mean they agree with us, it just means they’re showing us respect and letting us speak,” she said.
Frisco ISD did come outside to talk to the parents and answer their questions.
“It’s something that’s an ongoing discussion that’s happening routinely as conditions change,” FISD director of emergency management Jon Bodie told Karthik outside.
By the time Monday came around, the Unified Parents were not added to the agenda. But they did sign up for public comment. Each parent got one minute to address the board. Karthik used her minute to advocate for better hybrid learning options, so that kids who were exposed or even sick can dial into their normal classroom and not fall behind.
“I believe Frisco ISD should create a new hybrid learning environment that other district across the nation would want to emulate,” she said to the board, while standing at the podium.
It was not just parents asking for safer schools. A group of high school students got their fellow classmates to sign a petition. More than 4,000 kids signed it asking for better safety measures.
Karthik said she will keep coming back for every board meeting until Unified Parents of FISD has accomplished its goals. The school board is not required to respond directly to public comments.