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Lancaster parent tells board 'Dads and Donuts' left fathers turned away, urges contingency planning
Summary
Denise Kirby, a Lancaster ISD graduate and DeSoto resident, told trustees that fathers and other supporters were turned away from a Dads and Donuts event despite having identification; she urged the district to create contingency plans and better organization so children aren’t disappointed.
Denise Kirby, a DeSoto resident and Lancaster ISD graduate, used her three minutes of public comment at the Nov. 20 Lancaster ISD board meeting to criticize the handling of a recent "Dads and Donuts" event.
Kirby said many fathers who arrived to support students were turned away despite having proper identification and in some cases being preregistered. She described the registration and check-in process as "very unorganized" and said unregistered supporters and additional family members — including grandparents — were denied entry even when they held identification.
"We cannot have a society where dads are not able to come and show up for their kids regardless of preregistration status or system glitches," Kirby told the board, and she urged trustees and administrators to adopt contingency plans to prevent children from being disappointed.
Kirby framed her remarks around personal loss: she said the issue was important to her family after the death of a nephew less than two years earlier, and that the event’s problems caused emotional distress for a great-niece.
Board staff had introduced the public-comment rules before Kirby spoke (three-minute limit, identify name and address, avoid naming individuals when lodging complaints). The transcript does not show an immediate remedial action taken during the meeting; Kirby asked the board to consider the issue for future agenda placement or staff follow-up.
