Tag: Katy ISD

Katy ISD’s Gender Fluidity Policy Forces Some Students Back In The Closet

Over a year into enacting a policy requiring instructors to tell parents if their children request to go by a different name or pronouns, Katy ISD officials report that there have been 36 instances where officials have made such notifications.

This number is an increase compared to the 19 notifications made roughly two months after the policy was adopted in August 2023. According to a public information request filed by Students Engaged in Advancing Texas — a student-led advocacy group — there have been no identified cases where a family member was not informed of a name or pronoun change.

The district declined to provide information regarding how and why decisions to notify were made, indicating that further details would be located in student files and confidential education records, which the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act protects.

“It’s sad to see this number increasing, and students are standing up for those who can’t advocate for themselves,” Cameron Samuels, executive director of SEAT and a former Katy ISD student, said. “We really hope this won’t be a norm for future generations.”

The controversial “gender fluidity” measure requires teachers to receive written permission from parents or guardians to use the name or different pronouns that a student requests to go by.

However, it states that instructors can choose not to refer to a student by their chosen name or pronouns despite parental consent.

One of the main arguments board president Victor Perez and fellow trustees Mary Ellen Cuzela, Amy Thieme and Morgan Calhoun made during the discussion before voting to approve the policy was that it reinforces the prioritization of parents’ rights.

The trustees in favor of the measure also indicated that it would prevent teachers from interfering in parent-child relationships by withholding such information from students’ parents or guardians.

Jarred Burton, a senior and president of Tompkins High School Sexuality and Gender Alliance, said those on the board who backed the policy’s passage are likely frustrated as the number of notifications going out to parents may not be as high as they initially anticipated.

“It depends on the school and the teachers,” Burton said. “I have heard of a lot of teachers enforcing it, but a lot of teachers also see the danger in it, and they’re scared to enforce it.”

“It’s not what they [trustees who supported it] wanted. It’s not what they envisioned,” he added. “I think it also shows how much of a waste of time it is for the district to constantly do all these things and make all these policies that they should know their employees, constituents and stakeholders don’t stand for.”

Trustees Rebecca Fox, Dawn Champagne and Lance Redmon voted against passing the policy. During the August 2023 board meeting, Fox said it would “make problems worse” for the district, similar to the book policy and ban of websites like the Trevor Project, which triggered a complaint against the district.

Fox’s concerns were actualized when SEAT filed a Title IX complaint against the district in November 2023. In May 2024, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation into the matter.

In an October 2023 report by the Houston Press, James Onambele, a former Katy ISD student who identifies as a transgender male, described the most harmful part of the policy as the “outing” or revealing students’ identities to their parents who may not be accepting or aware of their child’s situation.

Onambele noted that if the policy had been in place while he was a student, it would’ve made him “less open,” and being referred to as a girl would’ve made him “super uncomfortable.” He added that not feeling like he had anyone to talk to would’ve harmed his development.

“It seems like such a small difference, but in reality, it would’ve affected my life if I didn’t have those few teachers who were allowed to ask me, ‘What are your pronouns? ‘What is your name,’ Without spreading my business,” Onambele said.

Under the policy, employees are prohibited from asking for students’ pronouns and discussing “gender fluidity” or teaching such topics. Students are also required to use bathrooms and other facilities that align with their sex assigned at birth.

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Many LGBTQ rights advocates who have spoken out against the policy warn trustees of assuming all parents are supportive their kids’ choices.

Photo by Faith Bugenhagen

Basil Chen, a senior and president of the gender and sexuality alliance at Jordan High School, said many transgender friends stopped introducing their names to their new teachers due to fear they won’t accept them.

Chen’s friends have what Chen described as an “it is what is” attitude toward not being able to identify the way they want to.

“We tend to joke about it being a ‘Texas’ thing, probably just to feel better about it,” Chen wrote to the Houston Press via text. “I’ve heard people talk about how much it hurts to be referred to by the wrong name, but ultimately there’s not much we can do about it since we’re not the ones in power and safety is always the top priority.”

Chen said it is discouraging to see participation dwindle at GASA meetings because students fear being seen attending them. Last year, the group had roughly 90 members, only about 10 of whom consistently showed up for meetings after the policy passed.

The group has not met this school year due to logistical issues with sponsorships. Participation further slowed over the summer, with only one to three students showing up to events. Chen added that when recruiting new people to join, many say something along the lines of “I’d love to join, but my parents will get mad if they find out.”

The policy has a clause that makes an exception for notification to parents and guardians in cases of “suspected abuse,” but it does not specify the guidelines for making this distinction.

One staff member per campus is responsible for processing and sending the notifications. Burton said the implementation of the policy varies across the district and is largely contingent on a campus’s LGBTQ-friendliness.

However, Burton indicated that he heard from peers that teachers felt emboldened to purposely address students using their “deadname” or incorrect pronouns when the policy first passed.

Burton referred to one incident in which a student arrived at class following the board’s vote to adopt the measure and was told by an instructor that they would be “going back to” using the student’s deadname. The student left the room and subsequently dropped out of the district.

Burton hasn’t heard of many more instances like these. He echoed Chen’s sentiments, saying there is likely a direct correlation between this and students concealing their identities to protect themselves.

“Other than the outing of students — which is bad on its own — I think the precedent it creates that you cannot be safe being yourself in the classroom is doing a lot of damage to the newer students,” Burton said.

In a statement to the Houston Press, Samuels expressed concern for the 36 students affected by these notifications.

“This 36 is not only an abstract number but 36 students’ livelihoods. Each of these parental notifications holds a potentially heartbreaking story not foreign to domestic violence or suicide ideation. Forcibly outing a student places them in harm’s way and neglects their plea for support when courageously navigating this journey to loving themselves. Every transgender student deserves the same dignity and respect that is afforded to peers. We deserve agency and confidentiality to come out when ready, and Katy ISD has cost 36 students their livelihoods.”

Faith Bugenhagen

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September 24, 2024
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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August 27, 2024
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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May 15, 2024
Katy ISD board of trustee member asks district if there’s any way to track immigration status of students
A Katy Independent School District board of trustee member called for legislation to allow the tracking of a student’s immigration status during Monday’s meeting.

The trustee, Morgan Calhoun, asked Katy ISD Chief Financial Officer Chris Smith if there was any way to measure or understand how many illegal immigrant children, they have in their district that are receiving education.

Katy ISD Superintendent Ken Gregorski responded, stating there are certain rules to educating all children in Texas—regardless of a student’s immigration status. He said it would be unlawful to require a person’s immigration status for them to be enrolled.

Gregorski also said there is no data the district has to track if an enrolled student is a legal or illegal citizen.

“We are all aware of the border crisis. We have had 10 million illegals come across our border in the last three years. Since Joe Biden has taken office. This isn’t whether I like him or whether I don’t,” Calhoun said during the meeting. “This is just a fact that we are having to deal with that crisis in our districts.”
In 1982, The Supreme Court ruled that every child is entitled to a public education regardless of immigration status.

Dr. Sergio Lira, the President of Greater Houston LULAC 4967 said he was outraged by Calhoun’s comments.

“Mrs. Morgan Calhoun you should consider resigning for proposing such Ludacris policies,” Lira said.

KPRC 2 reached out Calhoun but have yet to hear back from her.

In a statement Katy ISD said they do not inquire about a student’s immigration status nor deny enrollment based on it.
Copyright 2024 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.

Brittany Taylor

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May 8, 2024
Incumbent Katy ISD Trustees Leading PAC-Backed Challengers In Early Returns

Katy ISD trustees Rebecca Fox and Dawn Champagne were leading in early returns Saturday night against two PAC-backed challengers in the district’s school board elections.

Fox and Champagne serve in Position 6 and Position 7 on the board, respectively. Fox collected 59 percent of the early and ballot-by-mail votes tallied to Donovan Campbell’s 40 percent. Champagne was leading with 59 percent to David Olson’s 41 percent.

Fox was first elected to the board in 2004 and served until 2019, then was elected again in 2021. Champagne assumed her position on the board in 2021.

Fox and Champagne faced a somewhat bumpy road in their races, facing criticism rom conservatives for voting against a policy that requires teachers to out students or notify their parents when students asked to go by different pronouns.

Several community members said campaign mailers and misinformation were circulating throughout the campaign that referred to Champagne and Fox as liberals.

School board races are non-partisan and historically generate lower turnout. However, due to the growing number of school districts seeing political action committees getting involved in these elections, more community members are paying attention and coming out to cast their votes.

The presence of PACS in Katy ISD elections started roughly two years ago, when then-board candidate Victor Perez, who currently serves as board president, was endorsed by several conservative groups.

This trend continued the following year when the Harris County Republican Party endorsed trustees Mary Ellen Cuzela, Morgan Calhoun, and Amy Thieme. Texans for Educational Freedom, a conservative political action committee, also sent out flyers accusing their opponents of being far left.

Reports indicated that Campbell and Olson were backed by several political action committees, including the 1776 Project PAC, a New York-based conservative pro-voucher, anti-LGBTQ+ group that is against what it calls indoctrination in the classroom and for parental rights in public schools.

However, Campbell and Olson denied involvement with the PAC despite both candidates’ names on the list of endorsements on the group’s website. Olson said he was not working with or raising money in conjunction with the group. He noted that as a candidate, he has no say in who supports his campaign.

Campbell echoed Olson’s claim, saying he was also not actively working with any PAC. Yet he added that he received money—$5,000—from With Honor PAC, a veteran-run, veteran-founded political action committee. Last year, he donated $5,000 to the same PAC. He currently serves on the group’s advisory board.

Campbell and Olson’s campaigns received endorsements from the True Texas Project PAC, a part of the Defend Texas Liberty Network — a group mostly financially supported by oil billionaire Tim Dunn. American Principles Project PAC and conservative talk show host Michel Berry also backed Campbell. Berry targeted and spread misinformation about the race on Campbell’s behalf.

Fox and Champagne received support from eight former Katy ISD trustees, who wrote an endorsement letter encouraging voters to reelect the two board members and condemning their opponents’ camps infusion of politics into what was supposed to be a non-partisan race.

Faith Bugenhagen

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May 4, 2024
Katy ISD Votes To Decline Appointing Religious Chaplains To The District

On Monday, the Katy Board of Trustees voted to approve a resolution that blocked enforcing a law that would have allowed the district to hire or permit chaplains to volunteer in religious capacities.

The resolution initially proposed by board president Victor Perez after last week’s workshop meeting passed on a 5 to 2 vote with Perez and trustees Dawn Champagne, Mary Ellen Cuzela, Rebecca Fox and Lance Redmon in support of it.

Trustees Morgan Calhoun and Amy Thieme opposed the resolution, voting in favor of adopting a measure from Senate Bill 763, which gives authority to public school districts to employ these religious leaders or have them provide additional services on a volunteer basis.

The bill does not include any restrictions on what chaplains could teach when working with students in the district. Before it became a law, an amendment would have prohibited proselytizing while serving in these roles, but it failed to garner any support.

According to Thieme, while teaching the district, assuming the role of a chaplain helped her instruct her students who were struggling to learn math. She said that she never once inappropriately shared her religious beliefs.

Thieme added that having chaplains at campuses across the district would provide additional support for the students and assist teachers and overburdened counselors, “I think this is a way that we can help them enjoy their jobs more and be more successful,” she said.

Fox corrected Thieme, pointing out that she was not serving as a chaplain because she was not certified to be a chaplain. Instead, Fox said Thieme was mentoring her students and added that the district could benefit from more mentors.

Fox brought up Katy ISD’s KEYS Mentor Program, which focuses on facilitating a relationship between students and mentors who participate in it. She added that the already-established program improves attendance, grades, morale and the overall disposition of those involved.

“I believe the policies and practices that we currently have serve our students in the same way that a chaplain policy per se would,” Fox said.

Cuzela echoed Fox’s remarks, encouraging chaplains interested in working with the district to redirect and participate in the mentorship program.

Fox said her concern with adopting a measure that would allow chaplains to serve in roles specifically for religious figures is the inability to control what religious sects would be represented.

Thieme pressed Fox, asking what “dark religions” she referred to as not belonging in the district’s schools, to which Fox said Satanists and Wiccans.

“It won’t be the religions of families or the faith that families embrace in their homes. You wouldn’t be able to guarantee what faith — what beliefs — and I think that a parent’s right is to teach the faith they want in their homes,” Fox said.

“I just see the risks involved in a public school system with a diverse school district to write a policy. I don’t see the legal feasibility there,” Cuzela added. “Of yes these, no those, that is a tricky situation and would become a game of whack-a-mole, and to write a policy like that would not be a good policy.”

Perez also took issue with the legal ramifications of adopting a policy in a district as religiously diverse as Katy ISD and parents’ right to make decisions regarding religious exposure for their kids.

“As I stated before, spiritual formation and religious training are the responsibility of parents and their churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples; that’s the parent’s right, and we cannot expect the schools to take over parenting,” Perez said.

“I want to make sure that the parents are not in any way a step behind or removed from what’s going on in your child’s school, where there may be potentially unintended consequences with placing an adult that establishes a private relationship or private conversation with a child,” he added.

Perez said his stance regarding chaplains was consistent with his conservative values and position on prior policies, such as the district’s gender fluidity policy, which requires the district to share with parents if their child chooses to go by a different name or pronouns.

Calhoun chimed in on the ongoing discussion before the vote to express her approval of chaplains acting as the bridge in gaps of additional student support.

Calhoun said she would have benefitted from seeing one of these religious figures during high school. She said she could resonate with the community members who spoke during public comment and wanted chaplains at schools in the district to help them or their children through tough times.

“I did see a counselor and a counselor is not a therapist,” Calhoun said. “And, although the counselor at the time, I’m sure she meant well, didn’t help.”

Many critics of the law take issue with it opening up the door for chaplains to assume these positions due to their lack of proper training or licensing and certification by the State Board for Educator Certification.

Jarred Burton, a junior at Tompkins High School and president of the school’s sexuality and gender alliance club, spoke out against these religious figures acting as mental health providers.

Burton said he had attended each board meeting since chaplains became a topic of conversation, and before Monday night, he had seen only one person speak out in support of them.

Burton added that countless students, people of faith, and chaplains had opposed the district’s possible adoption of a policy allowing these religious figures to be employed or serve as volunteers in spiritual capacities.

Last year, the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty compiled a letter to Texas public school boards containing more than 100 chaplains’ signatures demanding the separation of church and state.

Burton asked Thieme what the chaplains could provide that would benefit students more than what counselors could provide if they were prohibited from discussing religion, as she mentioned previously during the workshop meeting.

“Our students do not need religious chaplains, not now, not ever,” he said.

Shannon Petersen, a high school counselor, said the trustees are neglecting the bill’s actual language, which states that the district may employ a chaplain instead of a school counselor to perform the duties required of a counselor.

Petersen said 45 hours of her schooling for her master’s degree was devoted to studying psychology, mental health counseling and ethics. She also spent hundreds of hours learning from experienced school counselors.

“The fact that we continue to debate the merits of hiring a school chaplain, whether you add certifications and provisions in a policy or not, to replace a school counselor’s role is a slap in the face to hundreds of school counselors the school district employs,” Petersen said.

“The discussions around hiring a potentially uncertified and unlicensed position to handle the one part of my job that I have the most education for tells me that some on this board hold little value for my expertise and training,” she added.

Faith Bugenhagen

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February 27, 2024