SOUTHLAKE, Texas — The Carroll Independent School District in Southlake on Monday night announced a lone finalist for its superintendent position.
Jeremy Glenn, who will replace retiring superintendent Lane Ledbetter, is joining the embattled Carroll district from the Granbury Independent School District, where he's been superintendent for six years.
Glenn was also previously a superintendent at the Nacogdoches-Central Heights and Waxahachie districts, and a principal and assistant superintendent at Trinity Independent School District.
"Joining the Carroll Independent School District as superintendent is a profound honor,” Glenn said in a statement. “I am dedicated to protecting our tradition of excellence and working collaboratively with our talented staff, engaged parents, and the broader community to not only ensure every Dragon reaches their full potential, but to navigate and successfully lead this district through this season of statewide public education financial challenges. My family and I look forward to making Southlake our home."
Carroll ISD board president Cam Bryan called Glenn "a man of integrity and character, exemplifying the values that are foundational to our community."
"With a wealth of experience in educational leadership, he brings a visionary approach and a commitment to excellence," Bryan said in a statement.
Glenn's tenure at Granbury saw controversy raised over the banning and removing of certain library books that are focused on LGBTQ themes.
The publication ProPublica in 2022 shared a secret recording of Glenn talking about the district being conservative when it came to removing books.
“If it’s not what you believe, you better hide it because it ain’t changing,” Glenn was heard saying on that tape, justifying his desire to remove LGBTQ-focused books from the school's libraries.
“It’s the transgender, LGBTQ and the sex — sexuality — in books,” Glenn said in that recording. “That’s what the governor has said that he will prosecute people for, and that’s what we’re pulling out.”
The Carroll board's announcement of Glenn as finalist came on the same night Bryan issued a statement saying the district will stop negotiations with the Department of Education over alleged civil rights violations by the district.
The federal agency's Office of Civil Rights in May announced that four student complaints of discrimination based on race and sexual orientation would be upheld after a lengthy investigation. The Office of Civil Rights then invited the district to negotiate a resolution, giving the district 90 days to reach a deal before the federal agency could bring the issue to court.
But Bryan on Monday said the Carroll board "concluded that our district has complied with the law in each case."
"For that reason, we have declared an impasse in the negotiations and look forward to defending the district at all levels of this process," Bryan said.
The Carroll board's announcement came on the heels of a North Texas federal judge, Reed O'Connor, ruling in Carroll's favor by blocking expanded Title IX protections for LGBTQ+ students from taking effect in August.
The changes to Title IX, announced by the U.S. Department of Education in April, clarify that it also protects against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor of the Northern District of Texas in his ruling Thursday said the preliminary injunction covers Carroll ISD for now but requested briefings by July 18 on potentially broadening the injunction to include other school districts.
