Round Rock Independent School District provided PDE with transgender guidelines from Texas Association of School Boards; elementary school staff discussed plans to “create a more equitable campus for gender expansive youth”

Parents Defending Education previously submitted a public records request to the Round Rock Independent School District requesting any transgender guidance that the district has from the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB). PDE received a document back from the district titled “Legal Issues Related to Transgender Students.” The document provides several questions and answers on transgender issues, including vague instructions to school staff to keep the gender identity of students a secret from parents.

PDE submitted an additional public records request to the district requesting any emails that board members had with the TASB regarding transgender issues and any contracts and invoices the district had with the TASB. The Round Rock Independent School District provided PDE with the documents but started deleting them before PDE could download all of the files. The district gave PDE less than one full business day before deleting the files. However, PDE was still able to download over half the files before they were deleted.

In one email that PDE received was board member Amber Feller forwarding an email from TASB executive director Dan Troxell dated January 31, 2023. The email discusses the TASB document “Legal Issues Related to Transgender Students” that several school districts in Texas appear to have. He explains that “nine Texas representatives sent a letter to all school board presidents that grossly misrepresents the content of the legal FAQ.” He added that “this same group of lawmakers is unfortunately using both misinformation and disinformation to call on Texas school boards to leave TASB.”

Dan Troxell explained in the email that a version of the document has existed since 2015. He then added: “Divisive, Washington-style politics has no place in Texas public schools. As your executive director, I will always correct and clarify false information so that you have all the facts.”

PDE also received the email that Dan Troxell sent to school boards across Texas.

The following email was additionally sent to the district’s board from the TASB on January 31, 2023.

In another email PDE received dated September 20, 2021, a “sign language interpreter” at Live Oak Elementary School with “he/they” pronouns listed in the email signature sent out an email that appeared to include several other staff as recipients. This employee sent out resource links to other staff in the email in an effort to “create a more equitable campus for gender expansive youth” so students can feel “affirmed.” One resource was from the Human Rights Campaign. Another was a link to the TASB transgender document.

Another employee from Live Oak Elementary School who is shown as a “Deaf Ed Teacher” responded to the email complaining about teachers who refuse to use the preferred pronouns of students. This teacher still currently works at Live Oak Elementary School. She stated:

Thank you for this! At a school I previously worked at, there were a couple of teachers who “refused” to address a student by their requested pronoun and it really bothered me. The student would try to correct the teacher and eventually “gave up.” This was just really upsetting to me.

PDE also received an email from a first grade teacher at the elementary school positively reacting to the resource links. The conversation was regarding equity work.

The Human Rights Campaign is a political organization that advocates for corporations and schools to adopt LGBTQ issues in their businesses and curricula. The organization has a history of working with schools, teachers unions, and the federal government to push LGBTQ activism into the nation’s education system. The organization additionally promotes using lawsuits to block laws that would protect children from being taught gender ideology while at school.

Regarding the comment from the “Deaf Ed Teacher” who complained about teachers refusing to use the preferred pronouns of students at her previous school, another Live Oak Elementary School staff member responded:

Are you kidding me? That’s unacceptable. I hope you reported them. That hurts my heart. The suicide rates for trans kids is so high and it’s stuff like this! Ugh!!!!

On September 22, 2021, several staff at Live Oak Elementary School had a meeting to “create a more equitable campus for gender expansive youth.” A school counselor also responded to the email to explain that she would like to be at the next meeting planned for September 29, 2021.

Another email showed that two board members attended the TASB’s “Governance Camp” in 2020 at the price of $395 each for a total $790. TASB describes the Governance Camp as “a unique learning experience, where Texas school board members receive top-notch training focused on governance, leadership, and student voice.”

In a public records request to the Fort Bend Independent School District, PDE received a document for the 2022 “Governance Camp” conference. One session for participants at the 2022 conference was titled “Do You Know How Some of Your Policies Affect Your Students?” The description of the session explains that “transgender students” will be talking about their “experiences.” The TASB stated for the session:

Hear directly from transgender students about experiences they face in Texas public schools. The session will include a discussion with parents and students about the importance of inclusive policies and the obstacles students face to better support all students receiving an education in the district. Bullying and harassment, name and pronoun use, access to public facilities, dress and grooming codes, as well as sports will be included in the discussion.

Another session at the conference was titled “Why Should Gender Inclusivity Matter to ISD’s?” The TASB described the session as participants examining “the effects of anti-transgender rhetoric in the educational environment on students in Texas.” The TASB stated for the session:

Explore the role gender identity plays in a student’s school experience. Learn why support in the academic setting makes a difference in transgender and gender nonconforming youth outcomes. Understand the components of a supportive education environment. Examine the effects of anti-transgender rhetoric in the educational environment on students in Texas.

PDE additionally received numerous invoices that the school district paid the TASB from 2018 to 2023. Invoices included millions of dollars for “Workers’ Compensation Coverage,” $11,000 for annual TASB membership, thousands of dollars for policy updates, and thousands of dollars for board members to participate in the TASB’s “Summer Leadership Institute.” These were some of the documents PDE downloaded before the district deleted them.

In the preview for files that the district deleted before PDE could download them, PDE found that the district paid for board members to attend the TASB’s “Summer Leadership Institute” in 2020, 2021, and 2022. The “Summer Leadership Institute” is an event held by the TASB each year. The TASB provides the following description for the event: “The annual Summer Leadership Institute (SLI) is not only TASB’s flagship training conference, but it is also our learning laboratory. SLI is designed to offer new and experienced school trustees a place to create their own learning journey and to ask bold questions.”

In a public records request to the Fort Bend Independent School District, PDE received the program for the 2020 Summer Leadership Institute. Sessions for participants to join at the conference were “Avoiding the Value Gap: Ensuring Equity is Embedded in Resource and Policy-Making Decisions,” “Why and How Latinx Leaders Are Addressing Educational Equity,” “Learning to Talk About Challenging Issues: Race, Ethnicity, Class, and the Gender Spectrum,” and “Why Can’t You See My Culture?”

PDE also received the program for the 2021 Summer Leadership Institute from a public records request to the Fort Bend Independent School District. Sessions for participants to join at the conference were “Let’s Talk about Race and Diversity in a Safe Environment,” “Hair Length, Earrings, and the New Culture Wars: The Liability of Gender-Specific Dress Codes,” “Promoting Equity: Five Strategies for Addressing Microaggressions and Bias in Schools,” and “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: What Does This Mean, Exactly?”

The TASB conference document states for the “Hair Length, Earrings, and the New Culture Wars: The Liability of Gender-Specific Dress Codes” session: “As the concept of gender has become more fluid in society, those standards are being challenged. This presentation will update trustees on trends in the law in Texas and across the nation regarding gender-based dress codes and grooming standards and provide practice guidance on adopting dress and grooming standards.”

For the “Promoting Equity: Five Strategies for Addressing Microaggressions and Bias in Schools” session, the TASB states: “Racial and gender bias, whether implicit or explicit, and microaggressions contribute to discrimination and create an inequitable educational and work environment. You are responsible for helping your organization recognize and combat intolerant attitudes and behaviors that negatively affect your employees and students and create the risk of liability.”

The program for the 2022 TASB conference has Adolph Brown listed as a speaker. The TASB describes him as a “social justice advocate” and “sought-after and highly effective Unconscious Bias, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion keynote speaker.” Unlike previous years for the Summer Leadership Institute, the 2022 program did not have a list of sessions for participants to join. These sessions often include topics in favor of transgender and equity issues.