Ed Walker

Are Summer Camps Safe? Here are some facts most have never heard about licensed Texas summer camps.

Happy victory on fiber issue, but much damage already done. Millions spent by camps to get it & long, very expensive contracts. Someone's making $$$. Some closures already. Our lic. fee $465 last year to $19,500. A lot left to fix. Camp leaders must be at table FOR safety.

@VanceGinn 100%. The damage is done. Camps already spent millions & are locked into long, expensive fiber contracts. Our lic. fee, $465 last year to $19,500. Some closed, more will. We raised $$$ to seek relief from mistakes. They jump in at the finish line & claim they ran the marathon.

This is not how government should work, especially in Texas! Lt. Gov Patrick and Speaker Burrows shouldn’t have pushed this bad legislation. Now they shouldn’t be changing the rules of the game when they know they’re wrong (always were wrong on this). Instead, they should ask Gov. Abbott to call a special session to remove this law (and reduce spending and eliminate property taxes).

@KRLD x.com/EdWalkEdD/stat…

Good news for Texas families — all summer camps are staying open this season after all. State officials just confirmed no closures over the new broadband rules, giving camps time to appeal while kids get to enjoy their plans. What do you think — relief for parents or still room for improvement on safety rules? Drop your thoughts below 👇 audacy.com/krld/news/loca… #TexasSummer #SummerCamps #KRLD

This is NOT true, @KRLD! 1. Camps have already closed. 2. Camp license apps much lower. 3. Rep. Curry shared a tenuous option we've heard from DSHS, but Perry and Darby have pushed back. Please confirm before reporting.

@PatrickJCurry1 BTW - "discernment" comment was for TX pols and agencies as a whole, not you personally. Other states have advantage of regular session you didn't. Camp leaders do need to be at the table to make laws better, not to shirk them, as was insinuated by some. x.com/EdWalkEdD/stat…

@PatrickJCurry1 Hope so, Pat. Camp leaders' input would've prevented millions already spent unnecessarily on fiber & legal. Leg. & DSHS raised our camp fee from $465 to $19,500 - "camps are going to pay." Some regs LESS safe & fewer camps. No great discernment thus far-hope that changes. Thanks

🚨Alert 🚨 Our office has learned today that NO CAMPS will be closed this summer due to broadband deficiencies. After direct conversations with the Texas Department of State Health Services, we have clarity on the path forward. Deficiency notices related to broadband access will be issued in the next 45–60 days. Camps will then have the opportunity to go through an administrative appeal process, which is expected to take 2–3 months. During that time, all affected camps will be allowed to continue operating under their previous year’s licenses. Importantly, this ensures families and children can count on a safe, uninterrupted summer camp season. Looking ahead, the Texas Department of State Health Services has indicated a legislative fix will be pursued in the upcoming 90th Legislative Session. I will be working closely with state leaders and stakeholders to ensure a commonsense solution that protects both safety standards and access for our communities.#TxLege

The chart at the end is concerning. We're hoping to receive a license soon (along with hundreds of other camps). Grateful this story is now being told. click2houston.com/news/investiga…

I receive camp stories from media outlets far and wide. Most look identical with a single focus. Sarah Bahari from the DMN is one of the few also reporting on the larger community—hundreds of dedicated camp leaders on the front lines of safety. Thank you! dallasnews.com/news/texas/art…

We were given 120 seconds to comment to Senate. I testified laws with good intentions can lead to bad results. Dismissive @electcharles added fiber requirements (pet project) on non-profit camps, where none was available. He said camps, not Texas, would pay. They certainly are.

This doesn't make headlines. When legislators and lobbyists become immediate experts, refuse input, assign blame & shirk their one responsibility—passing GOOD laws—this is the result. In business, the demise of the small benefits the large. In camping, it's a shame. @DanPatrick

@TexasTribune There are countless free YouTube videos and web resources that educate on this, not to mention friends, neighbors and farmers who mentor. A $7 million grant should be a crime for those who provided it.

She won a $7M grant to teach Texans how to farm. Then the Trump administration yanked it over DEI. bit.ly/3O5q7YE

Only 1 Texas camp has received a license to operate this summer. DSHS outsourced EAP reviews to an outside company that adds new requirements. Only 3-4 camps in the state have received conditional approval of their EAP. Camp leaders say deficiency notes seem AI generated. True.

Received word of 3 TX camp closures this week. A Baptist-north, a Church of Christ camp-south central, and a wilderness camp-central. Safe camps. Longstanding camps. Camps where kids and churches should be this summer. @DanPatrick, @electcharles, @DrewDarbyTX - no comment. Sad.

Though the Likert scale (rate 1-5 - strongly disagree to strongly agree, or always to never, etc.) wasn't introduced until 1932, these longitudinal camp observations (1925-28) used similar methods to quantify needs in boys. Developing programs to improve these areas followed.

The positive impact of summer camp was recognized anecdotally from the very beginning. Kids had a great time at camp and parents noticed them changed for the better when they returned, thus the rapid early boom. But academic studies of camp outcomes followed almost immediately.

It welcomes children of Prime Ministers and others on beautiful Canoe Lake in Ontario. This book (author signed) studying camp outcomes at Ahmek was written by alumni and academics in 1929. Camping has evolved but foundational principles are much the same a century later. 3/3

“It was on that night and in that cabin where...(Camp) Ahmek was really born.” Formed by Taylor Statton in 1921 with 60 boys, it was the first privately owned camp in Canada. His descendants still lead the camp and a sister camp for girls, to this day. 2/3

“Only the weird cry of wolves and the sharp incessant cracking of trees with frost pierced the relentless howling of the wind as it swept across a mile of open lake.” A remote, chinked log cabin was being buried by snow as two men sat before a blazing fireplace. 1/3