The FISD Board of Trustees held its regular Community Input Meeting (CIP) in the auditorium of the District Administration Building (DAB). FISD parents and students discussed a variety of topics including FISD counselors, tennis court restrictions, and other FISD policies throughout the districts.

Community Input Meetings (CIM) offer stakeholders a chance to provide constructive input or ask questions on any District business and governance-related subjects. Community members are assigned an order, and given three minutes to speak up about any issue concerning the district.

Leslie Worstler, the lead counselor at Lone Star High School (LSHS), restated a claim made in the previous school board meeting 

“Parents don’t have confidence in the counselors you are giving access to, which is not an accurate representation of how the majority of parents, students, or staff, in the district feel about the counselors and the work we do with our students,” restated Worstler.

Workstler expressed how the statement made her feel disheartened.

“It is the first time in my career I’ve felt openly and supported by a school member, and I also demonstrated the need to share accurate information about the role of the school counselors and what our job entails,” said Worstler.

Angie William, Counseling Services Coordinator and a school counselor advocate,  talks about how counselors are an important part of ensuring students have an excellent educational experience.

“Our counselors work to ensure that students’ basic physical and mental health needs are met and they are prepared for the future-ready learning that is available to them through FISD’S curriculum and programs,” said Wiliams. “Our department motto is ‘students have the need to feel cared for, capable, and connected.’”

Transgender accommodations

Ken Tisil, a community member, spoke to the board to review facts on recent issues FISD is facing.

Tisil emphasized the importance of maintaining Transgender accommodations.

“There are people in your base who want to shame and demonize transgender students. This is cruel and wrong, and it’s an infrequent issue falsely labeled as a huge existential crisis,” said Tisil. “About 50 have asked for special accommodations. That is 0.123 percent of students. For those affected, it is best handled compassionately on a case-by-case basis.”

Pornographic books

Finally, Tisil confronted the issue surrounding pornographic books. 

“We can all agree that pornographic books have no place in our school libraries. Only about 15 books have been permanently removed out of the 1 million reviewed. That works out to 0.0015% of books available. That is not an existential crisis either,” said Tisil. “It is just a ploy to remove any books that contain ideas and historical truths that your supporters fear.”

Tennis Courts in FISD

FISD’s new policy regarding tennis court usage goes into effect at 5:00 p.m. every day. Four of the six courts of IHS will be given to professional tennis instructors who will run private and group lessons for profit. The remaining two courts will be available to be reserved by the community for $11 for 90 minutes of play. 

Max Mccauley, a freshman at Independence High School (IHS) on the IHS JV Tennis Team, spoke on the new tennis court restrictions.

“We are student-athletes and we train hard to compete for our school and to represent FISD. I don’t think it’s right that community members and professionals, get priority usage of the courts,” said Mccauley. “Unfortunately, tennis has long been seen as a sport for the privileged. Thankfully, there are many organizations trying to change that and to make it more inclusive, but this new policy does not promote inclusivity. It seems to me that FISD has put money over what is best for the interests of the high school tennis players.”

The next Community Input meeting will be held on Feb. 27 at 6:30 pm at the DAB. To view a transcript of the meeting and watch the recorded version visit the video index on the FISD website.