Darcy Vogt Williams, a band teacher in Leander ISD, holds a sign at the protest she organized outside the State Capitol on Jul. 15, 2020.
Darcy Vogt Williams, a band teacher in Leander ISD, holds a sign at the protest she organized outside the State Capitol on Jul. 15, 2020. Allie Goulding/The Texas Tribune
The Weekend Brief podcast for July 18, 2020

Like thousands of teachers across Texas, Darcy Vogt Williams says she’s frustrated. About a month out from the start of the new school year, the Texas Education Agency continues to fine-tune its guidance on how districts should reopen safely to limit the spread of the new coronavirus. On Friday it again revised its plans, giving schools more time before they must resume teaching students in person, and allowing districts hard hit by the coronavirus to seek waivers.

“You would hope that the Texas Education Agency would understand that we are in a position that none of us could have prepared for, and it has zero to do with teachers not wanting to work. We all want to work,” Williams said.

Williams teaches band at Stiles Middle School in Leander, north of Austin. After hearing teachers from around the state voice similar complaints about the fall guidelines, she said she felt compelled to organize a protest Wednesday outside of the state Capitol.

Listen in the weekend edition of The Brief podcast.

Alana Rocha was the director of news partnerships for The Texas Tribune until June 2022. She was previously a multimedia reporter, after working in television and radio news for eight years. Alana covered...

Todd Wiseman was the senior editor for video and multimedia at The Texas Tribune, where he worked from 2010 to 2023. Todd previously worked at the Austin School of Film and Synthetic Pictures and interned...

Justin Dehn was a multimedia producer, focusing on video and audio production, from 2010 to 2023. He’s been shooting and producing news for more than two decades. Justin has been behind the camera for...