{"id":283575,"date":"2026-05-07T23:46:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T23:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/283575\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T23:46:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T23:46:12","slug":"texas-reaches-deal-allowing-summer-camps-to-open-despite-fiber-optic-internet-requirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/283575\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas reaches deal allowing summer camps to open despite fiber optic internet requirement"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Dozens of Texas youth camps will be able to open this summer<\/a> after state health officials reached an agreement Thursday that temporarily waives a fiber optic internet requirement many rural camps had no way to meet.<\/p>\n

The Texas Department of State Health Services agreed that camps with multiple broadband internet connections can operate this summer even without a fiber optic connection. The deal, which applies to all licensed youth camps statewide, lasts through March 1, 2027.<\/p>\n

PREVIOUS COVERAGE | State cites 22 emergency plan deficiencies at Camp Mystic, gives 45 days to revise<\/a><\/p>\n

According to McCarty Law PLLC, 19 camps sued the state in an Austin district court, arguing a single sentence in last year’s youth camp safety legislation requiring end-to-end fiber optic broadband service made it impossible for many rural camps to open.<\/p>\n

The legislation was passed during a special session<\/a> of the Texas Legislature in response to the July 4, 2025, floods<\/a> in Kerr County that killed 27 Camp Mystic campers and counselors<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“This agreement keeps camp doors open for children and families across Texas,” said Brian Anderson, executive director of Camp Peniel.<\/p>\n

The deal comes as the broader debate over the camp safety laws continues. State Rep. Wes Virdell (R-Brady) had called on Gov. Greg Abbott<\/a> to convene another special session to fix the legislation. Camp Mystic, the Hill Country camp at the center of last summer’s tragedy, separately announced it is withdrawing its application<\/a> to reopen this summer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Dozens of Texas youth camps will be able to open this summer after state health…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":283576,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-283575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}