SHERMAN, Texas — "That's his safe space. It's his happy time," said Phillip Hightower.
This Sherman father beams when he talks about his son, Max, on stage. Max is a senior at Sherman High School in the Sherman Independent School District.
This year, Max landed his biggest role yet in the school's theater program for the musical, Oklahoma!.
"I thought it was really cool. He always wanted speaking lines. Hadn't had any of those yet. He always wanted to solo so I thought this is great. It's senior year. I was thrilled," said Hightower.
But the joy shared in is family was quickly changed by a phone call from the school on Friday, Nov. 3.
"It was a tough day. I got a phone call. Just looking back, the more and more I remember, it was so filled with just open bigotry," he said.
The district decided to recast the show, saying students could only play roles that match their assigned sex at birth.
Max is transgender.
"I love him," his father said. Hightower stood up at a school board meeting to defend his son and oppose the actions of the school district.
The family gained public support.
On Monday, more than 60 people spoke in support of Max. By the end of the night, board members unanimously voted to reinstate the original script and cast of the musical.
On Friday, a special meeting was held to take a closer look at the administration and staff who made the initial decisions of recasting. The superintendent's position was in question.
Thirty-one people made public comments on Friday to the board of trustees. It was about even, half in support of Superintendent Tyson Bennett, the other half against him.
Bob Jones, the former athletic director of Sherman ISD, said at the podium, "I drove five hours to support Tyson Bennett."
He asked the room, "Anyone in this room who has made a poor decision? I'm not telling you that Tyson didn't make a poor decision. But anybody who hasn't made one, stand up now. Get your pound of flesh somewhere else. Let's worry about our kids. Let's take care of our kids."
After public comments were done, the board went into a closed meeting for two and a half hours. In the afternoon, they unanimously voted to appoint a committee for the case. This committee will engage a third party to investigate the allegations of wrongdoing regarding the actions of the district staff and administration.
A second vote was also unanimous removing Superintendent Bennett from supervision of all fine arts until further notice from the board. It is effective immediately.
The musical is expected to take stage in early 2024.