Grand Jury indicts two Carroll Independent School District board members for secret meetings

  • Carroll Independent School District, Texas - Texas

Incidents

Issues

Update

On April 6, 2021, The Texan reported, “Carroll Independent School District (CISD) Board President Michelle Moore and Vice-President Todd Carlton were indicted by a grand jury for conspiracy to circumvent the prohibition against secret deliberations.”

The article continued: “Last summer, several school board members engaged in a series of text messages regarding the district’s Cultural Competence Action Plan (CCAP) that raised concerns about an Open Meetings Act violation, as originally reported by The Texan..”

 

Concerned Parents of Southlake Students oppose ‘Cultural Competence Action Plan’

In August 2020, a grassroots organization, Concerned Parents of Southlake Students, circulated a petition to oppose a new draft “Cultural Competence Action Plan” (CCAP) proposed by the Southlake Carroll Independent School District. The action plan includes policies like: 

  • “Create a systemic process for consistently tracking and reporting microaggressions and incidents of discrimination.”
  • Establish an LGBTQ+ student focus group (grades 9-12), an equity and inclusion grievance process system, and expand the school’s tip line to collect allegations of microaggressions.”

The curriculum defines microaggressions as “everyday verbal or nonverbal, snubs or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, which communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to target persons based solely upon their marginalized or underrepresented group membership.”

The cost of the plan would be $425,000 in the first year and $250,000 each year through 2025.

Parents filed a civil lawsuit (see documents attached) about a violation of open meeting laws, using copies of text messages that school board members exchanged as evidence against the school board members.

References

Judge halts Carroll ISD’s diversity plan after opponents win temporary restraining order The Dallas Morning News, Dec. 4, 2020

Southlake Carroll ISD’s next superintendent to lead a district divided over diversity proposals The Dallas Morning News, Nov. 20, 2020