By a margin of only one vote, the Katy ISD Board of Trustees passed a hotly-debated policy affirming “parental authority “ and regulating matters of gender fluidity within the district.  The vote took place on Monday, August 28^th, at the board’s regularly scheduled meeting.

The policy requires district employees to inform parents if a student requests to be identified as transgender, or asks to be known by another name or to be recognized by different pronouns which do not correspond to their biological sex.  The policy also requires that students use bathrooms designated for their sex as assigned at birth.  Transgender athletes are also prohibited from sports competition, among other matters addressed in the policy. 

Over 100 community members signed up to speak during the public comments section of the meeting; in a session lasting over four hours, about 80 actually spoke on the parental authority/gender fluidity policy and another five spoke on other non-agenda items.  About 15 of the speakers during the public comments session supported the measure while the remainder of the participants opposed it.

Pro-policy speakers included parents and community members who commended the board for their actions, as well as local physician Dr. Steven Hotze, who said that the policy would ”put a stop to Katy schools promoting and propagandizing the trans philosophy.” Opponents speaking against the measure included former board trustee George Scott, who expressed his concerns on the legal ramifications of the policy;  Texas State Representative John Rosenthal, who was also “deeply concerned” about its legality and the policy’s impact on schools; two clinical psychologists who described high rates of depression, suicide and homelessness among LBGTQ students; several current and former teachers who were concerned about the trust between teachers and students; and many present and former KISD students and other community members.

The board went into closed session for about an hour following the public comments but returned to vote on the consent agenda and then to discuss and vote on the “parental authority/gender fluidity” policy.

Voting for the measure were board president Victor Perez, and trustees Morgan Calhoun, Amy Thieme and Mary Ellen Cuzela, all recently elected to the board; voting against the policy were veteran board members Rebecca Fox, Dawn Champagne and Lance Redmon.

Board president Victor Perez pulled the policy from the consent agenda so that board members could discuss the measure.  He prefaced the discussion by saying he wanted to clarify some misunderstandings and mischaracterizations” about the policy, stating that it does not “out” anyone.  “We are here to educate,” he said.  The biggest area of disagreement surrounding the policy, he said, was the role of parents.  “We should not err on the side of concealing things from parents.”

Champagne said she had been contacted by many teachers and she had not heard one teacher who wants the burden of reporting this information to parents.  While she said she supported the majority of the policy, she questioned how the process would work among all district staff personnel including bus drivers and other district employees.  Perez responded that the details of the implementation are up to the district administration to define, not the school board.  Champagne also talked about the possibility of child abuse as a result of this policy.  She also described She also said that the legal citations in support of the policy “were not strong” and “none were about pronouns.”  Gender fluidity should not be taught in schools, she added.

Thieme recommended solutions that could take the burden off teachers, including the hiring of district chaplains to perform the duties of school counselors.  She said that she supported the policy because “the problem is here.”

Fox said she was concerned about putting an additional burden on teachers in the implementation of the program.  She moved to table the policy until more information could be gathered, recommending a focus group to obtain the feedback of community stakeholders and requesting a comprehensive legal brief that could be reviewed by all seven board members.  Fox was concerned with potential legal liability for the district.

Board member Lance Redmon stated that “Good policy takes time” and also recommended that the policy be tabled pending further study. Redmon reiterated concerns with the potential legal ramifications of the policy.

Cuzela said the district could be at legal risk if they did not enact the policy.

The motion to table the policy was defeated 4-3, with Perez, Cuzela, Calhoun and Thieme voting against and Redmon, Fox and Champagne voting for it.

After further discussion, including heated exchanges among Calhoun, Champagne and Fox, the policy was approved by the 4-3 vote.

Similar policies have been approved elsewhere in Texas by school boards in Keller ISD and Grapevine-Coffeyville ISD, both near Dallas.  According to an article in the June 29, 2023 edition of the New York Post (https://nypost.com/2023/06/29/keller-texas-schools-ban-lgbtq-pronoun-bathroom-accommodations/), Keller ISD’s policy, enacted in late June 2023,  is already facing a legal challenge from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).  Grapevine-Colleyville’s policy was adopted in August 2022, according to the Dallas Express (https://dallasexpress.com/education/local-school-board-adopts-new-gender-policies/)

In other action, the consent agenda approved unanimously by the board included a resolution to declare a “good cause exception” for HB 3, which requires an armed security officer at each campus by September 1^st. The “good cause” exception request would be based on two factors:  the lack of staff to fill the security officer positions and the financial impact of the requirement.  At the August 24^th work study meeting KISD General Counsel Justin Graham said that the district did not currently have these officer positions staffed – needing about 40 to 50 more officers -- and would not be able to meet the deadline.  The district plans to use Level 3 security guards at some campuses in order to meet the state mandate.

The next meetings of the KISD board will be a work study meeting on September 18^th and a regular board meeting on September 25^th.