Carroll school board can choose to discuss the proposed diversity plan, court says
The 2nd Court of Appeals ruled that a case alleging the Carroll school board president and other trustees violated the Texas Open Meetings Act while discussing the district’s proposed diversity plan will be sent back to a trial court for further review.
The ruling said the district’s appeal of the lawsuit was “moot.” The court also lifted the temporary restraining order, which was issued in late November, prohibiting the district from discussing and moving forward with the Cultural Competence Action Plan or CCAP.
Justice J. Wade Birdwell stated in his opinion last Thursday that the Carroll school district’s appeal of the lawsuit was moot because the district failed to appeal the amended petition that parent Kristin Garcia filed.
Karen Fitzgerald, a spokeswoman for the school district, did not respond to an email from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram seeking comment.
The lawsuit
On Aug. 3, 2020, Carroll administrators presented a draft of the Cultural Competence Action Plan that was almost two years in the making.
The plan brought on a firestorm of opposition from parents who said they did not get information about the plan and that they were concerned about policing and disciplining students over intended and unintended “microaggressions.” The parents also felt that the plan did not adhere to the Christian values their children learned at home.
One of the parents, Kristin Garcia, sued the Carroll district along with board president Michelle Moore, vice president Sheri Mills and other trustees in September of 2020 over allegations that they sent text messages to discuss the cultural competence plan before it was presented at a regular board meeting.
Garcia alleged that Moore created a “walking quorum when communicating with the trustees outside of a regularly called meeting which violates the Texas Open Meetings Act.”
A state district judge sided with Garcia and issued the temporary restraining order.
Now, the case will go back to the 153rd District Court for further review.
This story was originally published October 18, 2021 at 4:58 PM.