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Tag: Conroe ISD

  • Conroe ISD Named in Latest Fight Against Ten Commandments Display

    When the Texas Legislature approved Senate Bill 10, requiring that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom, government watchdogs predicted there would be legal action. They were right.

    A second lawsuit claiming that SB 10 is a “clear violation of students’ and families’ religious freedom and the separation of church and state” was filed in federal court on Monday by 15 multifaith and nonreligious Texas families.

    The plaintiffs plan to file a motion for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction, asking the court to require 14 defendant school districts, including Conroe ISD, to remove any Ten Commandments displays currently posted and to refrain from hanging new displays pending the resolution of the litigation.

    This week’s legal action comes on the heels of a lawsuit filed in August, Rabbi Nathan v. Alamo Heights Independent School District, in which U.S. District Judge Fred Biery issued a preliminary injunction saying the 11 districts named as defendants in that suit didn’t have to follow Senate Bill 10.

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton immediately appealed what he deemed a “flawed ruling” in the Rabbi Nathan suit and said Austin and Houston ISDs had to follow the state law even though they were named as defendants in the lawsuit. Cypress-Fairbanks and Fort Bend ISDs were also named in the original lawsuit.

    SB 10, authored by Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, requires that the scripture be displayed on a donated 16-by-20 poster. “While no school is compelled to purchase Ten Commandments displays, schools may choose to do so,” Paxton said in a statement after he challenged the first lawsuit. “However, schools must accept and display any privately donated posters or copies that meet the requirements of SB 10.”

    The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals deemed Ten Commandments displays in public schools “plainly unconstitutional” days before the Texas legislation was signed into law.

    In the latest legal action, Cribbs Ringer v. Comal Independent School District, the school districts named as defendants include Comal, Georgetown, Conroe, Flour Bluff, Fort Worth, Arlington, McKinney, Frisco, Northwest, Azle, Rockwall, Lovejoy, Mansfield, and McAllen ISDs.

    The plaintiffs in both cases are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the ACLU, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP serving as pro bono counsel.

    Plaintiff Kristin Klade, a Lutheran pastor, said in a statement that she is a devout Christian and believes that the “spiritual formation of my children” is a privilege she takes more seriously than anything else.

    “The mandated Ten Commandments displayed in my children’s public school impedes my ability to ‘train up my child in the way he should go’ (Proverbs 22:6),” Klade wrote. “I address questions about God and faith with great care, and I emphatically reject the notion that the state would do this for me.”

    Other plaintiffs said the Texas law forces religion on children and is a calculated step to erode the separation of church and state. Following the Rabbi Nathan ruling, attorneys in the case sent a letter to all Texas school districts suggesting they not implement SB 10 because it would violate the First Amendment.

    “Even though your district is not a party to the ongoing lawsuit, all school districts have an independent obligation to respect students’ and families’ constitutional rights. Because the U.S. Constitution supersedes state law, public-school officials may not comply with SB 10,” the letter states.

    Supporters of the legislation say the Ten Commandments and Christian teachings are vital to understanding U.S. history.

    Some districts have gotten creative in how they follow the law. Hays Consolidated ISD near Austin accepted donated Ten Commandments posters from the nonprofit My Faith Votes/Million Voices and opted to also display the Bill of Rights, which states that, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”

    “We know that posting the Ten Commandments will spark many campus and community discussions,” said Hays ISD Superintendent Eric Wright in a statement.”We think it’s entirely appropriate to also display the other document that will be frequently cited in those conversations and in the legal process. The district won’t defy state law, but we can approach this new mandate as a learning opportunity,”

    ACLU of Texas attorney Chloe Kempf said in a press release this week that Texas families from religious and nonreligious backgrounds are “once again coming together to challenge this blatantly unconstitutional law.”

    “This lawsuit is a continuation of our work to defend the First Amendment and ensure that government officials stay out of personal family decisions,” she said. “All students — regardless of their race or religious background — should feel accepted and free to be themselves in Texas public schools.”

    April Towery

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  • Fort Bend ISD Trustees Approve Strictest Library Book Policy Yet

    Fort Bend ISD Trustees Approve Strictest Library Book Policy Yet

    Students, parents and librarians gathered outside Fort Bend ISD’s Administration Building on Monday evening to protest what they described as the “most restrictive” library book policy in Texas.

    The “Right to Read” rally, organized by the Friends of FBISD Libraries, a coalition advocating for the district’s libraries, occurred before the board of trustees approved changes to chain-in-command and selection criteria requirements.

    “Banned books means banned opportunities. Banned books mean banned education,” Anna Lykoudis-Zafiris, a parent, said. “Banned thinking. Banned compassion. Banned abilities to relate to others and be problem solvers.”

    The group of roughly 30 community members donned red and maroon shirts and held up signs that read “No Book Czar” and “Parent’s Choice (NOT Trustee David Hamilton).” Despite their efforts, the revised policy passed 5-2, with trustees Angie Hanan and Dr. Shirley Rose-Gilliam dissenting as usual.

    The new library materials policy prohibits any books that “advocate or promote” racial, ethnic, sex-based or religious stereotypes, sexual activity or illegal actions by minors like drug usage.

    Those speaking out against the policy questioned how an author’s intention to “promote and advocate” would be evaluated. They also asked if the superintendent, Dr. Marc Smith, would do it, as the revisions place sole authority over a book’s fate in his hands.

    Traci Marlowe, a district librarian, contended this was a violation of HB 900, a Texas state law, and of standards set forth by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission that require school districts to use reconsideration committees when there is a complaint about a title.

    Under the new policy, Smith can bypass a reconsideration committee and decide on the text’s status himself. The complainant also does not need to follow the steps of a formal reconsideration process.

    “The proposed policy makes review committees optional,” Marlowe said. “This conflicts with state standards and could expose districts to legal challenges and waste valuable time and taxpayer money.”

    Marlowe and others took issue with what they called the district’s lack of trust in librarians selecting age-appropriate content and disrespect to parents who are supposed to be the “primary decision-makers” over what their kids read by gutting these committees.

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    Those gathered to protest the policy before the board meeting held signs that had slogans related to the changes on them or brought their favorite books with them.

    Photo by Faith Bugenhagen

    The boardroom went dead quiet when Clements High School student Christopher Pontiff spent the remainder of his time addressing the board by requesting that they sit in silence, look at the crowd and reflect on the impact these changes will have.

    “I want y’all to look up at me. I want y’all to look up at these parents. Don’t smack your lips. Don’t give me a slight smirk,” Pontiff quipped. “Don’t look down and check how much time I have left.”

    Board president Kristin Tassin attempted to move on to the next public speaker, but Pontiff reasserted that he had yet to yield his time.

    Reconsideration committees in the past have consisted of a mix of district staff who opted to remove, retain or restrict a challenged book. Under the updated policy, Smith could decide, appoint a designee to choose on his behalf or convene a committee.

    Smith echoed sentiments he expressed during a board meeting in April when an earlier version of these policy changes was first proposed, saying that he had every intention of convening a committee whenever one was needed.

    “It’d be my goal, my desire, my option to make sure that I utilize all the options that are available to me in that process,” Smith said.

    A previous policy version included a clause banning nudity “of any kind,” including “depictions, illustrations and descriptions” in all elementary and middle school and classroom libraries.

    “I don’t think they realize how many books would be removed,” said Amanda Kennair, a Friends of FBISD Libraries organizer and district parent. “From what I heard, some of the most popular series from elementary schools would have gone, and I think a lot of parents would have probably been shocked to learn that they wouldn’t be available anymore.”

    Kennair referenced neighboring district Katy ISD, which implemented a similar ban last year, resulting in No, David! by David Shannon getting yanked from shelves. A decision that Katy ISD board president Victor Perez had to walk back in a statement where he wrote, “The board policy was not established with the expectation that well-known and harmless children’s books would be impacted.”

    “What child has ever looked at a partially clothed Winnie the Pooh and been aroused?” Kandis Easley, a long-time educator, sarcastically asked on Monday night.

    Hamilton announced an amendment to the original clause in the updated policy that replaced the prior language with text that would not permit depictions of sexual activity promoting the touching of genitals amongst minors in these texts.

    The concern about the volume of books the approved changes will remove extends to the high school level. Community members noted that the vagueness of the policies’ sections, including “advocate and promote,” will keep titles that may not feature explicit content but touch on certain controversial subjects out of students’ hands.

    Many argue that books on the Advanced Placement exam or commonly used in the college-level curriculum would be collateral damage.

    Frank Strong, one of the co-founders and co-directors of the Texas Freedom To Read Project, did an independent analysis and found that at least 22 of the titles featured in one of this year’s AP exam’s Free Response questions did not meet the new policies’ requirements.

    Strong also listed nine to 12 titles, including Macbeth by William Shakespeare and Moby-Dick by Hermann Melville, that could toe the line between abiding by and violating district selection guidelines.

    Hamilton, who first proposed that Smith have sole authority over reviewing the districts’ books in April, received most of the criticism from community members and fellow trustees alike. They argued that Hamilton spearheaded these changes to “further his agenda” after he filed for over 30 titles to be reviewed—most of which were retained by reconsideration committees.

    Hanan took issue again with the lack of input the rest of the policy committee members were permitted to give — she is a member of that committee — saying they hadn’t met since the previous workshop meeting despite Hamilton having amended the text.

    “We really need to understand what we have because this will be a hot mess. I continue to reject the way this policy is written,” Hanan said. “I believe it continues to get worse and worse, and I will remind this board last spring you supported the policy unanimously.”

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    There were several points in Monday night’s meeting when speakers or fellow trustees referenced Trustee David Hamilton’s behavior, to which he would smirk or smile.

    Photo by Faith Bugenhagen

    Hamilton asserted that “egregious content” is still in the library and that he had wanted to avoid it getting to the point again where pastors were reading excerpts aloud at the district’s board meetings again as they did at a board meeting in March, which is why he wanted to enact the policy changes.

    He noted that he wanted to read several of the sexually explicit sections of titles found in the libraries at the August workshop but was told not to do so.

    Trustees Adam Schoof, Sonya Jones and Rick Garcia defended Hamilton as Schoof took issue with Dr. Scott Pett, a writer and editor with Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business who has a Ph.D. from the college.

    Pett quoted renowned writer Audre Lorde while addressing the board to describe the danger of pulling excerpts out of texts without their accompanying context and reviewing books as parts but not wholes.

    “I’ve been getting nonstop emails and listening to you guys say that there are no pornographic images in our schools — and for the Ph.D. who does not know the definition of porn which blows my mind,” Schoof said. “Porn is an image of sexual intercourse or sexual act, a visual image and those visual images are in our schools.”

    Jones added to Schoof’s comments, saying that these “degenerate books” would lead students to “unsheltered lifestyle choices” if they were not removed from district shelves.

    Tassin said she agreed with those who said their libraries were their saviors; however, she reminded those speaking out against the new policy that school libraries were not public libraries.

    “In the school system, we have always determined what is or is not age-appropriate and what is or is not educationally suitable, and we are not going to stop that now,” she added. “We can throw around rhetoric like banning books and destroying books. That is not what is happening here.”

    Following Monday’s vote, several members of the Friends of FBISD libraries huddled outside the boardroom to discuss the next steps.

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    Amanda Kennair, a district parent and organizer with Friends of FBISD libraries, said she was concerned about her fourth grader’s access to their favorite books.

    Photo by Faith Bugenhagen

    “Parents have spoken out against it again and again at board meetings, and yet the policy has not changed at all,” Kennair said. “They are sticking with it as it’s written. I hope that some of the trustees realize that’s not in the district’s best interest.

    “I hope they spend more time focusing on providing our kids with a great education instead of trying to promote these extreme views,” she noted. “This is detrimental to all of our kids at the end of the day.”

    Faith Bugenhagen

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  • Conroe ISD Trustees Consider Helping Parents Access Upper-Level Removed Books

    Conroe ISD Trustees Consider Helping Parents Access Upper-Level Removed Books

    Nearly two months after Conroe ISD board members declined to reverse the removal of 19 titles from classroom library shelves, trustees reevaluated the district’s instructional and library materials policies and procedures on Tuesday night.

    Trustee Theresa Wagaman initially proposed revisiting these guidelines at June’s board meeting following a public hearing where several community members attempted to make a case for the board to reinstate these texts.

    Wagaman specified on Tuesday that she wanted the board to establish a procedure to help parents obtain banned or removed books that are not available on campus or in classroom libraries, particularly for those who have children in Advanced Placement or college-level courses.

    These courses offer supplemental or extra reading to prepare for the AP test. Superintendent Dr. Curtis Null clarified in response to trustee Melissa Dungan’s concerns that instructors would not teach these books. The board would only provide a way for parents to access any of the roughly 30 titles on the list.

    Null recommended several procedural ways the board could implement this practice, such as having a community member donate an Amazon gift card to a student, having a student go to the Montgomery County Library or using a text from a former student.

    “That’s a bit odd, right? That we would have a policy that would review these books, but then we would contact the community to provide the books?” Trustee Stacey Chase said. “Either they shouldn’t be there, or they should. Why are we making it so difficult for our students and our families to access the materials they need to be prepared for the test they want to do?”

    Wagaman said some of it was out of the trustees’ hands and up to legislative policies, which were an “absolute overreach.” Chase took issue with the limitations of the proposed changes, saying it was “not just the access” but about the appropriate use of these materials in these higher-level courses.

    “We can’t pretend that just having access to a book is the same thing as being able to be instructed with it,” Chase said. “It’s not the same thing. Otherwise, when kids showed up for their science class, you’d hand a biology book to them and say good luck.”

    Chase piggy-backed off Wagaman’s proposal to suggest changes to the district’s instructional and library materials policies. Fellow board members agreed that she would “red-line” or write her recommended revisions with Conroe ISD General Counsel Carrie Galatas’s assistance and then submit them to the board for consideration.

    Theresa Neman, an AP English teacher who led the charge in filing the complaints to try to put the 19 shelves back on classroom library shelves, encouraged the district to modify its policies to curb removals during public comment.

    “For years, we managed to teach, react, and treat our families reasonably. If a parent objected to the book, the parent, teacher and school worked to find an alternative,” Neman said. “But in the last two years, unreasonableness took over the minor minor minorities.”

    Neman emphasized that only about 20 people—six of whom emailed lists of books to board members but have no children in the district—took advantage of the stricter policies compared to most students and families who didn’t have an issue with libraries or classroom collections. 

    “Please don’t continue to limit the rights of our students because a handful of individuals cannot stand that our values might not be their exact values,” she said. “Please return our book policies and our district back to reasonableness.”

    Chase did not provide exact details about what would be adjusted in her proposed revisions to the library and instructional materials policies.

    However, Chase has criticized how far-reaching both policies go, particularly when it comes to removing classic texts and those regularly included on the AP Exam. Fellow trustees who support changes to the guidelines have also voiced their concerns.

    Trustee Datren Williams reiterated prior statements on Tuesday regarding the “inherently racist” nature of the policies that are “overwhelmingly” subjective and target books by authors of color and that feature LGBTQ content.

    “It’s been huge for me to sit here and listen, knowing that these actual books have never been the issue. That’s just a red herring,” Williams said. “The issue has been folks going to force their agenda on our school district at the expense of our kids and their education, and that’s just where we are.”

    Trustee Tiffany Baumann Nelson quickly challenged Williams, referencing an email sent to the district that showed only 8 percent of the books removed were by a minority author.

    Williams said Nelson was not accurate at all. In June, Williams reported that at that time, at least 47 percent of titles up for reconsideration by the district were by authors of color or featured LGBTQ content.

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    Similar to most other board meetings where the district’s book policies are discussed, some conversations between board members got heated Tuesday night.

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    Board President Skeeter Hubert and Trustee Misty Odenweller also added to the list of possible changes for Chase to consider. Hubert recommended a mechanism in both policies to revisit the removed but informally challenged books to allow them to be formally reconsidered.

    “They’re trying to interpret this, they’ve removed these, and there’s no mechanism to have these books go through a full review. They’re gone,” Hubert said. “That’s where I would like to see this move. Allow books that are not pornographic — they’re sensitive subject matter — rape, and incest — believe it or not, close your eyes if you need to, those things happen.”

    “I am for finding a way that those books that have been removed that hit specific subject matter that should be discussed have a way to come back into the school and in the hands of the kids so they can learn, study and understand these things,” he added.

    Odenweller reiterated that the district website needed to be updated with the book removals for both library books and instructional materials. She added that the reason why a title was pulled from the shelves needed to be included.

    The board is expected to act on updated versions of the district’s policies at its September meeting.

    Faith Bugenhagen

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  • Conroe ISD Trustees Table Discussions About A Potentially Copycat Gender Identity Policy

    Conroe ISD Trustees Table Discussions About A Potentially Copycat Gender Identity Policy

    At Tuesday’s board meeting, Conroe ISD trustees declined to consider drafting a policy that would resemble a controversial gender identity measure in Katy ISD that is undergoing federal investigation.

    Trustee Misty Odenweller proposed that the board write its version of this policy to dictate what bathroom facilities students could use. Notably, not allowing LGBTQ+ students to use restrooms that align with their gender identity.

    Taking a page out of Katy ISD’s playbook, Odenweller added that she wanted the measure to implement the requirement that parents be notified if their children ask to go by new or different pronouns and determine whether teachers could opt not to use a student’s requested pronouns.

    After several minutes of discussion, board president Skeeter Hubert questioned why the board could not hold off on the matter until the pending federal investigation into Katy ISD’s policy reached a resolution.

    “This particular item is under investigation. I think that our district does a fantastic job with addressing this on a case-by-case scenario,” Hubert said. “I don’t know that we need to entertain a policy or procedure that’s going to, as [Trustee] Datren Williams was saying, alienate a group of people.”

    Sumya Paruchuri, a junior at The Woodlands High School who identifies as gender-nonconforming, joined the roughly dozen public speakers voicing their opposition to the policy on Tuesday evening.

    “The policy that the board would like to pass under the guise of student welfare puts an end to any sense of a safe environment for many students like myself,” Paruchuri said. “[It] would be subjecting an already at-risk population to potential abuse, abandonment and detrimental mental health effects.”

    “You can – don’t – care about a word that I said, but you should care about what the government has to say,” Paruchuri added. “This policy violates multiple federal laws under several branches of the government. Students’ lives, our lives — my life — are not policies played in a political chess game.”

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    Sumya Paruchuri said they couldn’t imagine how students who’d be outed against their will would feel.

    Photo by Faith Bugenhagen

    Paruchuri noted that within the past year, 46 percent of trans and nonbinary youth reported seriously considering or attempting suicide — more than double the 22 percent reported by all youth.

    Ben Miftode, a fellow CISD student, broke down in tears before the board when reflecting on their coming out experience, “I’m not standing here, asking you to move mountains or stand up and fight for something you may not understand.”

    “I’m simply asking, are you an adult I can trust?” Miftode said.

    In a separate conversation with the Houston Press, Paruchuri said several of their friends wanted to speak on the possible policy. When they learned the meeting would be livestreamed online, they chose not to because they feared their parents would view their public comments.

    “I don’t think people who are advocating for the policy really understand its effects,” Paruchuri added. “Passing policies like this sets a standard of what’s okay and what’s not okay.”

    A handful of attendees — mostly wearing red — were in favor of the board drafting a policy saying it would prevent children from using different pronouns secretly and protect them from what they referred to as the indoctrination of transgender ideology.

    “Y’all are at a junction, a Pandora’s Box, okay? This doesn’t stop with a few kids deciding to be transgender. It will go into sports,” Kendrick said. “My niece had a girl in her high school who wanted to be a cat. Well, they had to put a litter box in the female bathroom. This is at the door. Remain strong CISD board.”

    The crowd of those against the policy erupted after Kendrick’s comments. Several muttered, “That did not happen,” and shook their heads or rolled their eyes in response to Kendrick’s claim.

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    Alex Harris, one of the registered public speakers, carried a sign in support of such a policy.

    Photo by Faith Bugenhagen

    While discussing what prompted Odenweller to request that a policy be drafted, Trustee Stacey Chase requested specific examples of issues or incidents the district faced that such a measure would manage.

    Trustee Melissa Dungan said an instructor at one elementary school handed out a third type of bathroom pass labeled “other,” and one teacher had high school students fill out a questionnaire that allowed them to select which pronouns they identified with.

    Dungan also pointed out that a handful of instructors had signature blocks with pronouns other than he or she listed. Chase said that if an administrator handled the situation in every instance and it was resolved — as Dungan indicated — she didn’t see the problem.

    “We don’t just make a point to make a point. It’s not worth anyone’s time to create things just to create things,” Chase said. “We don’t have to have a crystal ball to see where this leads. We can look right across the street to Katy ISD and see where it led them.”

    Williams echoed Chase’s sentiment, describing the type of policy Odenweller wanted drafted as taking a “bully-like approach.”

    “First of all, we need to stop beating around the bush. We keep picking on the same group of folks, right?” Williams said. “Our expectation here is not to help students. It’s to hurt them. That’s not — I’m actually flabbergasted we’re having this discussion right now.”

    Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, a student advocacy group, filed the initial complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights against Katy ISD’s policy, stating that implementing the measure discriminates against students and goes against Title IX protections.

    According to reports, staff have outed over 19 Katy ISD students since the district enacted the policy. The office opened an investigation into the matter last week.

    Before Tuesday’s meeting, the student advocacy organization and the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas sent a letter to Conroe ISD’s board and superintendent, Dr. Curtis Null.

    The letter warned the district that passing the copycat policy would violate federal law and open the district up to face legal complaints or federal investigation. It urged trustees to reject the measure and indicated that a school board’s policies cannot reject or supersede federal law.

    The organizations pointed out that Title IX’s nondiscrimination mandate protects LGBTQ+ students and called the district out for the harm that restricting bathroom usage that corresponds with a student’s gender identity, rejecting the usage of a student’s requested pronouns and cutting out LGBTQ+ content from books and instruction would cause.

    In a conversation with the Houston Press, Chloe Kempf, an attorney with the ACLU of Texas, said the organization was heartened by the board’s tabling of discussion about a potential policy. 

    “The policy itself would’ve been really disastrous for LGBTQ+ students in the district,” Kempf said. “Not only would a policy like that be unlawful, but it would cause a lot of harm and open up the doors to a lot of bullying and harassment against Conroe ISD students.”

    “Even discussing having that policy on the table can be harmful,” she added. “It sends a message to students that the most powerful people in their school district — or at least some of them — believe that they should not be welcomed in the district or that there’s something shameful about their identity.”

    According to Kempf, similar policies popping up in other districts are part of a broader campaign by Texas politicians at every level, from school boards up to the statehouse, to try to exclude transgender and nonbinary people from public life.

    Faith Bugenhagen

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