Carroll school district intends to appeal court order that stops work on cultural plan
The Carroll school district says it will likely appeal a temporary restraining order that was issued early last week to stop work on the Cultural Competence Action Plan.
That plan generated controversy last summer when some parents said it promoted “reverse racism.”
Last week, a state district judge ordered the Carroll school district to halt work on the plan, stating that documents indicate that the district intends to implement the plan in the future.
But Craig Wood, an attorney representing the school district, said a hearing on the temporary restraining order (TRO) scheduled for Dec. 14 probably won’t take place because Carroll is likely going to appeal the judge’s ruling in the 2nd Court of Appeals.
“Part of the reason why the district slowed down work on the plan was to get more input from people, including those who did not agree with the plan,” Wood said.
Interim superintendent Jeremy Lyon said in a statement posted on the district’s web site that the district would comply with the order, but that the order lacks clarity.
The school district began work on addressing diversity and inclusion issues after videos surfaced of students chanting racial slurs. The District Diversity Council was formed to come up with a plan with recommendations to strengthen the student code of conduct, provide basic diversity training and have families participate in a voluntary culture survey.
Updates were mailed to households in the district.
“Tuesday’s (Dec. 1) TRO ruling represents a deliberate roadblock by those taking legal action. It halts our efforts to hear community concerns and move forward in resolving the issue for the good of current and future dragons,” Lyon wrote.
The court battle began in early September when Kristin Garcia, a parent in the Carroll ISD, sued the district along with school board president Michelle Moore and several trustees alleging that they violated the Texas Open Meetings Act by discussing the cultural competence plan in text messages.
Jonathan Covey, policy director for Texas Values, an organization that protested the cultural competence plan, said in an email to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that “Carroll ISD put politics above education and they got caught with their hand in the cookie jar. This court order just confirms the lack of transparency by Carroll ISD that has broken the trust of so many parents.”