PUBLIC SAFETY
After more than 30 people, including 27 school-aged girls, died following floods along the Guadalupe river at Camp Mystic in Kerr County, TX, lawmakers have placed strict requirements around safety and communication for summer camps in an attempt to prevent a similar tragedy from repeating.
Following a major public trial earlier this year Camp Mystic pulled its application for approval, but now other summer camps are saying they’ll have to close their gates this summer if lawmakers do not provide temporary relief from the new restrictions.
Summer camps are now required to establish an Emergency Action Plan approved by the Department of Health Services (DSHS), followed by an on-site pre-inspection of the campsite before their application would be approved.
Among the new restrictions is a requirement that all campsite have access to fiber optic internet cables for communication purposes. Now summer camps are saying that this requirement might prevent them from opening any time soon.
Camps Sued to Block Rule
In a statement released via email to its sponsors, Camp Longhorn stated that “[the] new camp safety law will prohibit ~100,000 campers from being able to attend summer camp, including ours.”
Camp Longhorn, along with 19 other summer camps, sued to block this rule, as first reported by the Texas Tribune. The lawsuit stated that the plaintiffs in the lawsuit serve over 40,000 campers each year.
Camp Longhorn operates three locations in south central Texas, with an initial tuition rate of $4,678 per camper for two weeks of boarding. They state in their safety plan online that around 7,000 campers are estimated for attendance.
According to that report, Camp Longhorn said that it received a cost estimate of $1.2 million dollars to bring fiber optic lines to camp.
Camp Longhorn also said in their statement that “[t]he intent behind this law is protecting children, and that intent is one we share completely. However, there are proven and reliable ways to maintain strong internet access and emergency communications at camp today without fiber.”
Before going on to add that the camp “currently has Starlink and two additional broadband providers, which gives us triple redundancy on our internet service.”
Texas State Rep. Wes Virdell, who represents counties neighboring Kerr, issued a statement on April 30 calling on Gov. Greg Abbott to open a special session of the legislature to address this concern, staying “We all want camps to be safe, but we as legislators must ensure that the requirements are reasonable and achievable. We have the opportunity to fix the issue if the Governor will call us back to fix it.”
1 Comment
Well of course the fiber requirement is somehow too expensive. This complaint was totally predictable.
I’d like to know if this is the only sticking point for all of the camps. No problems making an emergency plan that passes muster? No problems with getting inspected?