SOUTHLAKE, Texas — Carroll ISD’s school board voted Monday evening on three policies surrounding LGBTQ students in the district.
A Policy Review Committee had been reviewing the district’s code of conduct and handbook. One of the district changes removed specific protections against bullying and harassment for LGBTQ students.
The policy listed in the district’s online agenda shows “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” crossed out repeatedly, including in anti-harassment and bullying policies that also list race, religion, and disability.
“The only takeaway that I can see is that this is a district that does not protect its LGBTQ students,” Pam Francis, who is on the policy committee, said before the board voted.
Francis said she voted against the policy changes, but they passed 7-2 to move on to the full school board for approval Monday night.
“School is the place where you’re supposed to feel accepted and supported and empowered to learn,” she said. “I don’t understand how students can feel that way when these policies are in place.”
The board also approved policies already passed in Keller ISD and Grapevine-Colleyville ISD requiring students to use the bathroom of their biological sex and another telling students and staff not to encourage the use of pronouns other than those that match a person’s gender at birth.
Formally, the policy allows teachers and staff the ability to refuse to address a student by a preferred pronoun.
But, board members mentioned that it doesn't prohibit teachers from using a preferred pronoun. It's merely their choice.
Board members also said accommodations may be made to students if they want to use a gender-neutral bathroom.
Carroll ISD school board President Cameron Bryan, Vice President Andrew Yeager, and the district itself all either declined to talk or didn’t respond when reached for comment before the board’s 5 p.m. meeting.
Bryan did make a statement before taking any vote - saying that the language in the new student handbook and code of conduct does not exclude protected classes.
Regarding bathroom use and pronouns, he said, "We felt like it was pertinent prior to school starting to clarify where this board stands in terms of ensuring the protections of our teacher's first amendment rights on pronoun use and the board's position maintaining separate restrooms."
Francis said while board members ran partly on a platform of transparency, the policies were posted online on Friday before the vote on Monday, leaving the public little time to learn of the significant change.
“The school district can also not just vote to violate federal civil rights law like that’s just not an option for them,” Francis said.
Carroll already faces seven open investigations by the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, including three based on race, two for disability issues, and two based on gender or sexual harassment.
“In the face of that, Carroll ISD is adopting all of these policies with open investigations. I mean, it’s incredible to me that the district would be so wrongheaded in this,” Francis said. “It’s shocking to me.”
Francis was also a co-chair of a committee that crafted a diversity plan for the district following two high-profile incidents of students using a racial slur in social media videos.
The plan was defeated after a parent lawsuit and pushback from many parents and trustees who said the district should instead focus on enforcing the student code of conduct that already exists.
“Members of the community said, 'Oh, well, we don’t need this diversity plan. All we need is a strong student code of conduct, and we’ll be fine,’” Francis said. “Instead of vigorously enforcing the student code of conduct, which is what they said needed to happen, they’ve gone the opposite direction.”
District voters have overwhelmingly and repeatedly elected trustees running as conservatives and targeting issues of both race and sexual orientation.
“My viewpoint is not the majority in this community. I understand that,” Francis said. “The majority doesn’t get to decide that they’re going to violate the rights of the minority.”
Francis said federal action and lawsuits are likely the only way to stop changes she and others believe are harmful.
"It does seem like they are simply inviting litigation,” she said. “I don’t know why they would want that when it just drains resources away from our school district, resources that we need.”