Opinion: Comal ISD Continues to Deny Reality by Making Masks Optional

For the past year, we have stood with teachers and parents to create safer schools.

Today’s letter from Comal ISD Supt. Andrew Kim continues to show the same rhetoric we have heard for the past year — tone-deaf, with a tinge of gaslighting.

The State of Texas is at war with COVID, yet Comal ISD continues to dismiss mitigation strategies that are proven to work. We have known since the summer of 2020 that we are fighting an airborne virus, yet we continue to propose that an extra wipe on a desk will keep our kids alive.

This is not a lack of scientific knowledge, this is denial of reality.

We are in a grave state where kids are dying or losing their parents at unprecedented rates. Our hospitals are full. Today in Bexar County, ambulances were unavailable for 26 minutes because they were all occupied.

While we are burying our loved ones, Kim is sending out messages to refocus on education. How does a student focus on arithmetic when their mom is hospitalized and not feeding their bellies?

There was a time that schools were at the forefront of building our communities. They lead us in growing our minds and hearts and stepped in to deliver vaccines in the school gyms when pandemics hit.

Today, I hear and see parents as they are scrambling to find solutions in what feels like impossible situations. While it feels extra lonely to not find the support we thought we had in our local school district, please know you are not alone, and there are solutions.

We need to protect our babies.

I understand many families rely on services the school provides. Remember, prior to schools providing these services, there were communities helping each other get through hard times.

Please look for where we can help one another to fill gaps. We can no longer rely on schools to keep kids safe. If you are in need, feel free to contact us on our Facebook page, and we will work to connect you to resources.

Olivia Weisinger is the mother of a second-grader and a kindergartner. She is homeschooling them during the pandemic. She served on Comal ISD’s Student Health Advisory Committee for the 2019-20 school year.