AUSTIN, Texas — School may be out, but Texas band director Darcy Vogt Williams has been working on a lesson plan of sorts for those who, she said, are supposed to know better. 

“We will not allow a restaurant to have full capacity, but full capacity in a school is fine,” she said. “It just seems like a double standard.” 

The Texas Education Agency’s initial reopening guidelines struck a chord with Williams that she felt she had to do something. 

“I watched and waited to see if anybody’s gonna be doing anything, and when nobody did. I decided ‘Well, it must be my turn,’” she said. 

On Wednesday Williams organized a protest that some of her colleagues thought was risky. 

“Teachers are also concerned that this is gonna have a backlash,” she explained. “Administration understands that this is crazy times and the guidelines that the TEA released are such that it has stolen all creativity and all flexibility for districts to do what is appropriate for their specific communities, what is safe for their families.” 

Dozens of teachers woke up early and made their way to the Texas Capitol. Even with the friendly camaraderie, their concerns were very real. 

“We desperately miss our kids, we miss that day to day interaction. We just want to do it safely,” stressed Williams.“I hope our message comes across. Desperately, I hope it comes across. But we’ll see.”