KILLEEN, TX — The Killeen Educators Association released a letter raising concerns about how the Killeen Independent School District is handling COVID-19 prevention.
“If we’re not doing everything we can to mitigate the things we have control over, then we’re not doing an effective job in trying to stop it,” said KEA President Rick Beaulé.
According to Beaulé, the association has tried to get the district to address concerns about social distancing, personal protective equipment and more since March. Now they want to make the public aware of these issues.
“They [Killeen ISD] have refused to upgrade ventilation systems, citing that the systems are not able to be upgraded. They flat out refused to do social distancing on buses. A lot of the cafeterias are the same way,” said Beaulé.
The KEA president says the letter also claims KISD school board members are not following mask mandates and social distancing in their meetings.
However, KISD Chief Communications and Marketing Officer Taina Maya says the KEA hasn’t formally reached out them regarding this letter.
“This is something we looked for via email, also USPS just in case we received it in that form as well, but nothing has been received from the district thus far,” said Maya.
While Maya says the district cannot comment on any of the claims by the KEA until they formally reach out, she says they’re doing this best to keep students and faculty safe during pandemic.
She says KISD is requiring all employees and students to self-screen daily for new symptoms as well as wear face masks, shields or coverings, regardless of age while on school premises.
“We’ve done countless different items throughout the district,” said Maya. “Everything from refillable water bottle fillers and giving bottled water out to our students and staff to mitigating the spread to different seating charts on our buses.”
Maya says they’re also working with the Bell County Public Health Department, the CDC, the State of Texas and the TEA to create guidelines to keep everyone safe.
