SOUTHLAKE, Texas — A community discussion on civility was hosted by the mayor of Southlake and two school board members from Carroll Independent School District Wednesday night—just weeks after a racist video involving several CISD students surfaced on social media.
The video, which was not filmed on a Southlake Carroll campus, shows several teenage girls chanting the n-word. Since the video was posted to Facebook in October, administrators have since handed down “consequences” to the students involved in the video. District officials haven't elaborated on what those consequences were.
After the video surfaced, African American parents voiced concerns at a CISD board meeting. Many of them shared heartbreaking stories about how discrimination is something that their students have grown to know within CISD schools.
Those stories pushed Mayor Laura Hill, the first female mayor elected in Southlake, to host a community discussion on civility within the city Wednesday night. The discussion was specifically for moms within Southlake, and more than a hundred attended.
Many shared similar stories that were heard by school board members. A few parents even shared times where CISD teachers and campus leaders belittled students due to their ethnicity. Board members at the discussion said that counselors will be added at several schools in reaction to the video.
Mayor Hill said that “now is the time for us to get to know our neighbors, understand their stories, and their family’s stories.” “The stories shared at that board meeting were heartbreaking.” Hill said that another meeting will be held in the coming weeks for dads in Southlake about the same issue.