SOUTHLAKE, Texas — Parents and a former student Tuesday called on Carroll ISD to work with the U.S. Department of Education to prevent the kind of alleged racist behavior that sparked a federal civil rights investigation into the district.
Members of Cultural and Racial Equity for Every Dragon (CREED) and Southlake Anti-Racism Coalition (SARC) spent almost an hour sharing gut-wrenching allegations of racism their families experienced at CISD schools.
"In the last couple years we've seen a resistance - an unexplainable resistance - within Carroll ISD to do the right thing," said Russell Maryland, a former Dallas Cowboy whose children attended Carroll ISD schools. "We just won't stand for it anymore."
The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights (OCR) invited the district last week to negotiate a resolution after it upheld four complaints filed by ex-students who say they faced racial and gender discrimination and that the district did little to stop or address the problems.
The district has 90 days to reach a deal with the agency. If it doesn't, the Department of Justice could bring the issue to court for enforcement.
The OCR only invites a school district to negotiate a resolution of complaints when it finds the implicated district has engaged in civil rights violations.
The district could also lose federal funding if it refuses to cooperate. However, Carroll ISD only receives less than $4 million from the government in its $150 million-plus budget.
In 2021, Superintendent Lane Ledbetter promised to follow recommendations the federal government made.
"If OCR determines there are steps we can take beyond what we've implemented, then we will absolutely comply," he said. "My priority is our kids and we're going to keep them safe."
A summary of the investigations was released to attorneys representing the families impacted, stating in part that "CISD officials declined to take remedial action with respect to individual incidents or to otherwise acknowledge the systemic nature of the problem. Instead, CISD has sought to limit access to information that could raise awareness, promote a more supportive environment for all students, and increase sensitivity about inequality based on race, color, national origin, and sex."
The issue of racial and gender discrimination took center stage in Southlake before the pandemic, when a video of students chanting and saying a racial slur was posted online. The incident prompted the district to survey students, asking whether they'd been discriminated against at school. The responses pointed to a problem on Carroll ISD campuses.
In response, students and staff created a Cultural Competence Action Plan (CCAP) to address and monitor incidents of discrimination. The proposal became a flashpoint in a school board election.
Southlake voters installed trustees who eventually rejected the proposal, prompting the complainants to report their experiences to the Department of Education.
"All the suggestions we made - they just threw out the window and demonized us," Maryland said.
Four more complaints remain open pending the outcome of an investigation.
Per education experts, a resolution may mirror what the CCAP intentionally set out to do: require diversity training for students and staff, implement monitoring requirements for incidents of discrimination, provide data to the DOE and beef up harassment and discrimination policies.
The district amended and removed some protections for some students last July. The Carroll ISD board of trustees also recently denounced new federal Title IX protections that President Joe Biden's administration expanded to protect LGBTQ+ students.
Angela Jones, whose son was one of the students at the center of sustained complaints, attended the press conference Tuesday. She said she felt vindicated by the DOE's recent findings.
"It was a long time coming," Jones said. "It's just another level to have the feds agree."
Jones' son no longer attends Carroll ISD--but reported that he was called racial slurs several times and that the district did little to stop it from happening again.
"This was about parents fighting for their children's rights in public school," Jones said. "Parents have been complaining about things for years--and it came to a head with that video that made national news."
Carroll ISD's first board meeting is Wednesday, and Jones is urging parents to follow the DOE's direction.
"Any reasonable person would at least sit down and hear what they have to say," Jones said. "Why wouldn't a school district, which claims they're here for all students, sit down with a governing body to hear where their shortcomings are and some recommendations to make the schools safer for students?"