Lubbock ISD superintendent talks about masks, events at schools

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - Lubbock ISD’s Superintendent, Dr. Kathy Rollo, spoke Thursday about the mask mandate and how they’re deciding to move forward as a school district.

“Obviously the Governor’s announcement came as quite a surprise to us,” said Rollo. “We had been settled into our routine with masks and feel like we’ve done our part to help mitigate the spread of the virus.”

Rollo said Lubbock ISD schools will continue to follow the guidelines previously set by the T.E.A..

“We are expected by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to follow the requirements that are currently in place until such time that our board takes action otherwise, so we are continuing with what we’re doing until further notice.”

Rollo said they plan on sending out a survey to parents and staff soon.

“We are going to be conducting a survey of our stakeholders, including staff members and parents, to get some feedback on what our community wants to happen with regard to that,” said Rollo, “in my inbox of emails is any indication. People definitely have strong views either way. But at the end of the day, we want to make a decision that’s based on what’s best overall for our community.”

Rollo said it’s unknown if the district will increase capacity at sporting and other events.

“We’re expecting guidance from UIL as well as far as athletic events and whether or not we can expand capacity on that. And I am less concerned about those questions about expanding capacity than I am about the mask-wearing,” said Rollo.

Rollo said so far, the district is not changing anything regarding the upcoming spring graduation plans.

“We’ve already made the decision in Lubbock ISD that we will hold our graduations at the same place we did last year at plains capital Park. So we’ll be outside. Last year, we did limit capacity. each graduate could bring a certain number of guests. So we certainly if we can have discussions around whether or not that can be expanded after we get more guidance, we absolutely will.”

You can find more information on Lubbock ISD on its website, click here.

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