Coppell Chronicle Vol. 1, No. 23

Parents Oppose New COVID Protocols • Avoid E-Cigs and Fentanyl, Kids • Coppell’s Lyft Test Will Continue • Take a Look at Cypress Waters Station

Aug 01, 2021

Parents Oppose New COVID Protocols

Last week, Coppell ISD published a brief COVID-19 Protocols Update regarding the upcoming school year, which begins on Aug. 17. Here’s the controversial portion:

“Parents and employees will continue to be required to report confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 to campus administration (school nurse for students) or their supervisor, but this information will no longer be tracked on a COVID-19 Dashboard. We will continue to follow the communicable disease protocol set by the state of Texas for reported positive COVID-19 cases. Staff will not conduct close contact reviews, and students and staff will not be required to quarantine for exposure.”

Parents who belong to the “Coppell, Texas” group on Facebook got an early heads-up about these protocols. On July 19, Phillip Reeder, the father of a sixth-grader and a ninth-grader, posted in that group that he had emailed the district to ask what protocols would be in place. During the July 26 meeting of the Coppell ISD Board of Trustees, an email from Reeder was read into the record.

“I understand that, under the current Texas orders by Greg Abbott, masks cannot be mandated in schools, but I don’t see why information won’t be shared with the parents of students that may be exposed in an indoor, unmasked setting,” Reeder wrote. “I would request that, at a minimum, CISD continue to use the reporting framework that was in place last year to keep parents updated on the level of transmission in our schools. I would also prefer for CISD to continue the contact tracing and quarantining of unvaccinated people who have been exposed. While it is not ideal to have children missing a week of school, it is also not ideal to have COVID-19 spread unchecked throughout our schools.”

Some people on Facebook have told Reeder and other concerned parents to keep their kids at home if they’re so worried. This is how Reeder responded to one of those people:

“What is wrong with asking them to contact trace and notify parents of exposures? It would still be up to the parents to do what they want with the information, but at least we will be informed when making our decisions versus blindly hoping that kids are not testing positive around our children.”

Dr. Jennifer Johnston, who is the mother of a Coppell ISD second-grader and has worked in the COVID unit at a children’s hospital in Dallas, showed up at the school board’s July 26 meeting to address the lack of contact tracing and quarantining.

“As a parent and a pediatrician, this makes me concerned about sending my child back to school,” she said. “Last year, the district did a great job of preventing any major outbreaks in the elementary schools. Unfortunately, this year, I fear that will not happen, specifically due to the lack of a mask mandate and the new delta variant, which is much more contagious and is forecasted to cause a surge worse than the last.”

Johnston said her daughter — who, like all children younger than 12, is not eligible to receive a COVID vaccine — is eager to return to in-person classes.

“If she does, she will be wearing a mask, as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. However, as I cannot yet get her the COVID vaccine, nor can I require others to make their children wear masks, I implore you all to put all the safety measures in place to protect the children of Coppell, including contact tracing and quarantining of exposed individuals, as recommended by the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics, to prevent an outbreak in the schools.”

Although Reeder and Johnston were the only parents whose statements were heard at the July 26 meeting, they are not the only parents reacting to the new protocols. Salma Khaleq, the mother of a fifth-grader, started a Change.org petition on Saturday morning that says “eliminating COVID contact tracing, parent notifications, and appropriate monitoring are an endangerment to our children and our community.” It had 556 signatures by 4 p.m. today.

Also on Saturday, six doctors who have children in Coppell ISD started a Google form that goes further than the Change.org petition. Among other requests, it asks the district to group students by mask preference. By mid-morning today, nearly 300 parents had added their signatures to the form.

I asked Amanda Simpson, Coppell ISD’s Director of Communications, why the district is no longer going to provide information regarding COVID-19 diagnoses (via a dashboard or email notifications), and why the district is no longer going to quarantine exposed students and staff.

She said the Texas Education Agency had dashboard, reporting, and quarantining requirements in place for the 2020-2021 school year, but “these requirements are no longer in place.”

“There also is no virtual learning option for students in CISD,” Simpson said, “so if a student would be in quarantine, there is no way for learning to continue, and they would be counted absent.” She also said the federal government ended benefits for COVID-related extended leave in December, so parents and guardians who are employed full-time “would not be able to stay with their young children should they be put on quarantine.”

Here are links to the latest COVID-19 protocols for the neighboring school districts, followed by my summaries of each.

Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD: The district will continue contact tracing. Students and staff who had close contact with someone who tests positive will not be required to quarantine if they have been vaccinated and are asymptomatic. Parents will receive weekly updates via Parent Square of confirmed cases on their children’s campuses. It’s not clear whether the district’s COVID-19 dashboard, which was last updated on July 27, will remain active. The district is recommending “face coverings for all.” (Coppell ISD’s protocols update notes that masks are optional, per the governor’s orders, but it does not recommend them.) School starts Aug. 10.

Grapevine-Colleyville ISD: “All GCISD campuses will continue to offer traditional, in-person learning when the school year begins on August 18 with no required COVID protocols that were previously implemented during the 2020-2021 school year.” Grapevine-Colleyville ISD is one of the few districts that still has an online learning option, because its iUniversity Prep virtual academy was launched years before the pandemic. School starts Aug. 18.

Irving ISD: The district will continue contact tracing, but the policy does not make clear what individuals who had close contact with a positive case are supposed to do. The district’s COVID-19 dashboard remains active. Similar to Coppell ISD’s protocols update, Irving ISD says it “will support any student or staff member who wishes to continue to wear a mask.” School starts Aug. 16.

Lewisville ISD: The district will continue contact tracing, but students who had contact with someone who tested positive will not be required to quarantine. The parents of students identified via contact tracing will be informed, but the district will not maintain a dashboard. “Masks are recommended for non-vaccinated individuals.” School starts Aug. 11.

Avoid E-Cigs and Fentanyl, Kids

The Coppell ISD Board of Trustees has approved updates to the district’s Student Code of Conduct based on new state laws. Jennifer Villines, the district’s Director of Student and Staff Services, mentioned two pieces of legislation during her July 26 presentation to the board.

Senate Bill 248 expanded the definition of e-cigarettes to include consumable liquid solutions. The Student Code of Conduct’s list of prohibited items includes “tobacco products, vape, cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and any component, part, or accessory for an e-cigarette device.” Here’s the Code of Conduct’s updated definition of “e-cigarette”:

“E-cigarette means an electronic cigarette or any other device that simulates smoking by using a mechanical heating element, battery, or electronic circuit to deliver nicotine or other substances to the individual inhaling from the device or a consumable liquid solution or other material aerosolized or vaporized during the use of an electronic cigarette or other device described by this provision. The term includes any device that is manufactured, distributed, or sold as an e-cigarette, e-cigar, or e-pipe or under another product name or description and a component, part, or accessory for the device, regardless of whether the component, part, or accessory is sold separately from the device.”

The other piece of legislation Villines mentioned was Senate Bill 768, which created a new penalty group (Penalty Group 1-B) for “fentanyl, alpha-methylfentanyl, and any other derivative of fentanyl.” Consequently, the Code of Conduct’s definition of “controlled substance” was updated accordingly:

“Controlled substance means a substance, including a drug, an adulterant, and a dilutant, listed in Schedules I through V or Penalty Group 1, 1-A, 1-B, 2, 2-A, 3, or 4 of the Texas Controlled Substances Act. The term includes the aggregate weight of any mixture, solution, or other substance containing a controlled substance. The term does not include hemp, as defined by Agriculture Code 121.001, or the tetrahydrocannabinols (THC) in hemp.”

Before the board voted unanimously to approve these changes, Trustee Anthony Hill said there were “a lot” of “big changes” made to the Code of Conduct and the associated Student Handbook. “They may look small in nature, but those are huge,” he added. Because Villines didn’t mention any other topics, I asked Director of Communications Amanda Simpson what else changed. She said the updates I just told you about were the major ones.

Coppell’s Lyft Test Will Continue

Did you know Coppell subsidizes Lyft rides for people commuting to the city? I didn’t until I watched Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

As you may or may not know, Coppell is not a member of Dallas Area Rapid Transit, despite the fact that DART’s Silver Line trains will start running through the city in a few years. (More on that in the next article.) Consequently, there are no public buses within our city limits.

A few years ago, some of the businesses on the west side of Coppell said they were having trouble attracting employees who rely on public transit. They could ride buses and trains to Coppell’s borders, but they’d have to walk to work from there. So the city joined forces with the Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA) in 2019 to establish a new service. Lyft carries commuters between Coppell businesses and these six transit stops just outside the city:

DART’s Trinity Mills Station in Carrollton (buses and Green Line trains)
DART’s Belt Line Station in Irving (buses and Orange Line trains)
DART’s bus stop at Regent Boulevard and North Royal Lane in Irving
DART’s bus stop at Saintsbury Street and South Belt Line Road in Cypress Waters
DCTA’s Hebron Station in Lewisville (buses and the A-train)
Trinity Metro’s Grapevine/Main Street Station (TEXRail trains)

Each commuter pays just $2 per Lyft ride, with the city covering the remainder. But if a particular ride costs more than $15, then the commuter is responsible for the extra amount.

Mindi Hurley, Coppell’s Director of Community Development, told the council that the city staff explored other options, including operating its own buses, but the Lyft idea was the least expensive. DCTA administers the program because it had a previous relationship with Lyft.

“Buses, even small ones, are very expensive compared to what we’re doing here,” Mayor Wes Mays said.

The contract between Coppell and DCTA is set to expire on Sept. 30. During Tuesday’s council meeting, Hurley was seeking direction on whether or not to extend the contract for a year.

Coppell budgeted $50,000 for the program during the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, and Hurley said the city has spent less than half of that: $23,856. About $14,900 has been spent on rides, and $8,945 went to DCTA to cover administrative costs.

Council Member John Jun asked what would happen if Coppell’s costs exceeded $50,000 in a particular year. Hurley said the city staff monitors how much is being spent on the program. She said if Coppell was approaching the $50,000 cap, then the staff would either suspend the program, tell the participating businesses that any exceeding costs would be their responsibility, or ask the council if they wanted to augment the funding.

Jun clarified that the participating businesses aren’t contributing any funds at this point. Hurley said that was correct, because this is considered a “test program” to gauge demand and viability.

Hurley said ridership began picking up in December 2019 and was steadily climbing until March 2020, when you-know-what happened. She said data is still incomplete due to the pandemic, but she was able to share these facts with the council:

There were 1,392 rides during the 12 months of fiscal 2020, but there were 1,416 rides during the first eight months of fiscal 2021.
Riders use the service from all six transit stops.
Riders use the service seven days a week.
All rides are concentrated on the west side of Coppell.

“We have to do a real analysis, and because we haven’t had a year that the program has existed without COVID-19, we haven’t been able to find our real ridership numbers yet,” Hurley said. “So we’re hoping this upcoming fiscal year can provide that, then we can take that data and figure out what the long-term solution is.”

The council gave her the go-ahead to prepare a contract extension that will be subject to formal approval at a future meeting.

I assume this program means there are more Lyft drivers scooting around Coppell than there would be otherwise. That’s something to keep in mind the next time you need a ride to the airport.

Take a Look at Cypress Waters Station

DART held a community meeting for Coppell and Cypress Waters residents on July 19 so we could ask questions about the Silver Line. I apologize for not giving you advance notice, but you can watch a recording of it here. What follows are a few of the things I learned from the meeting.

These two maps provide specifics of where Cypress Waters Station will be located along East Belt Line Road.

I assumed this station would be served by Silver Line trains only, but the plan is for it to be a stop along two bus routes as well. There will be 199 parking spaces at the station. DART expects nearly half of the people who use the station (48 percent) will access it on foot, followed by people who will drive to the station (35 percent) and those who will take a bus (17 percent).

At the moment, the only people who can quickly walk to the site are the residents of the Kyra Court cul-de-sac and the people who work in the businesses due west of there. (And it seems like they’d be taking their lives in their hands by crossing Belt Line on their feet.) DART’s presentation said there are plans for pedestrian trails between the station and the residences of Cypress Waters.

The projected daily ridership will be just 200 people when revenue service begins in the fourth quarter of 2024. By 2040, DART is forecasting that number will rise to 890.

Here are a couple of renderings of the elaborate sculpture planned for Cypress Waters Station.

That’s sweet, but how about some more meat and potatoes? This rendering and map show how and where the tracks will cross South Belt Line Road via a bridge.

Sam Wellington asked the most interesting question during the meeting: Will DART demolish any buildings on the southeast corner of Belt Line and Belt Line, or is the bridge going to squeeze in between the existing buildings?

(If Wellington’s name sounds familiar, that’s because he and I have something in common, besides our interest in the Silver Line: We both finished third in a Coppell ISD Board of Trustees election. Solidarity in mediocrity, Sam!)

Jon Collins — a Deputy Project Manager for Archer Werner Herzog, the contractor behind the Silver Line — said one building will need to be removed. “That’s one of the acquisitions that has taken place or will take place,” he said.

I’ll have more information about those property acquisitions in next week’s Coppell Chronicle.

Chronicle Crumbs

▪ According to the latest statistics from Dallas County, 71 percent of Coppell residents who are 18 or older are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. That remains the second highest rate in the county behind Sunnyvale’s 73 percent.

The county also has the vaccination rates for ZIP codes. Although Irving (53 percent) is in sixth place among the cities that are completely within Dallas County, 62.1 percent of all residents in 75063, which encompasses Valley Ranch and Hackberry Creek, are fully vaccinated. That’s the county’s second highest vaccination rate behind the 64.7 percent in 75251, a sparsely populated ZIP code near the intersection of Interstate 635 and Central Expressway. The 75019 ZIP code, which encompasses Coppell, is in eighth place at 55.8 percent.

Note: The city rates are for residents 18 and older. The ZIP code rates are for all residents.

▪ The U.S. women’s volleyball team, which includes Coppell High School graduate Chiaka Ogbogu, have gone 3-1 in their Olympic matches so far. They beat Argentina, China, and Turkey but lost to the Russians. Their final preliminary match against Italy is scheduled to start at 9:05 p.m. Central this evening.

▪ If you’re eager to see your name in a future edition of this newsletter, consider applying to join one of Coppell’s city boards or commissions. The application period opens tomorrow and ends Sept. 13. Click here for more information.

Community Calendar

Theatre Coppell: Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella will be performed at the Coppell Arts Center next weekend and the following weekend, with shows on Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons.

Coppell Women’s Club: This club for women who live in Coppell or nearby will host a “Welcome Back Coffee” at 10 a.m. on Wednesday at the Church of the Apostles, 322 S. MacArthur Blvd. Masks are requested for members and guests. The club offers a variety of special-interest groups, including book clubs, lunch bunches, and happy hours. Annual dues are $30, but you can knock $5 off that amount if you pay by Sept. 4.

Monsters, Inc.: The Coppell Arts Center will host a drive-in screening of the Pixar classic – which, somehow, came out 20 years ago – at 8:30 p.m. on Aug. 21. (“2319! We have a 2319!”)