10 March 14 - 20, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents cording to the dispensary owner. “That just really covers a whole lot,” he said. “There’s absolutely a lot of opportunity to continue to work on improving the pro- gram and getting it to a place where we have a little bit more direct access to products that are continuing to change people’s lives. … There’s definitely a lot of room for growth, improvement and healing, to be honest with you.” ▼ EDUCATION MR. T SAYS GOODBYE HEBRON HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER WHO WORE A DRESS DIDN’T VIOLATE POLICY, BUT STILL RESIGNS. BY KELLY DEARMORE O n March 6, Rachmad Tjachyadi re- signed from his teaching position at Hebron High School in Carrollton, according to an email from Lewisville ISD. Tjachyadi, known as “Mr. T” to students, was placed on leave in mid-February after a video of him wearing a pink dress went viral. When replying to questions regarding last week’s show of support for Tjachyadi during a Lewisville ISD Board meeting, a district representative also noted that after “a thorough review, the district affirmed there are no specific policies related to staff attire during dress up days.” In spite of the district’s findings, the pop- ular teacher decided the attention his case had brought had been too much to come back from, according to a statement he sent to school faculty. “Hawk Family - I want to thank you for your support over these last several weeks. “I appreciate LISD’s support and the out- come of the investigation, which showed I did not violate any policies through my choice of clothes on a dress up day. “The negativity from outside our district has had an impact on me, and greatly influ- enced my decision. I want everyone to know that the decision to move on from Hebron was mine. It has been challenging to watch the negative external commentary about me and about our campus, but much more im- portant to me is the support shown by my colleagues, students, and LISD. “My focus is and has always been our stu- dents, and I still believe in the important work being done at Hebron and in Lewis- ville ISD every day. It is because of my love for Hebron and our students that I have de- cided not to return. I know that might sound strange, but any time adult disagreements overshadow our students’ learning and well- being, it is time to step away.” We asked a Lewisville ISD representa- tive when the district had reached the con- clusion that Tjachyadi did not violate any policies and why it took so long announce it. We also inquired as to whether this incident will spur the district to consider changes to its policies as they relate to so-called “dress up days.” “I can tell you the district conducted a thorough review of the situation, which takes time,” a spokesman wrote in an email. In the Feb. 14 social media post of the video that sparked the controversy, Tjachy- adi, a chemistry teacher, is seen wearing a pink dress, hat and boots on the school’s “spirit day,” a day on which teachers and students are allowed to wear costumes and have a bit of fun with their wardrobes. A far-right X account posted the video with the caption “UNREAL. This is an ac- tual teacher in @LewisvilleISD named Rachmad Tjachyadi. I’m told he also some- times shows up to teach dressed in full drag and has a f*tish for wearing women’s cloth- ing. How is this acceptable?!” After placing the teacher on leave, the dis- trict received immediate scrutiny from na- tional news outlets and the governor of Texas, who urged his social media followers to con- nect Tjachyadi’s wearing a dress on spirit day to the need for his school voucher program, an initiative that has now failed over several years and many legislative sessions. Stacey Monroe, the director for the Trans Empowerment Coalition, was one of the pro- testers who attended the March 4’s board meeting to support Tjachyadi. She told the Observer earlier this week that her group and many others they are working with hope that the district will “lead with love, not hate.” She also acknowledged the double-standard ap- parent as this issue has persisted. “We wouldn’t be in this situation if it had been a woman wearing pants of course,” she said. “Because this is a man wearing a dress and outwardly expressing their gender identity it then became an issue because it’s not quote-unquote the societal norm, but I think society is evolving and that minds and hearts are changing, but there are still some folks who choose willful ignorance.” ▼ CITY HALL ‘NOTHING BURGER’ MAYOR ERIC JOHNSON GLOATS OVER FAILED RECALL EFFORT. BY JACOB VAUGHN I n a press release last week, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson let everyone know that the effort to recall him had failed “miserably.” Dallas activist and business owner Da- vante Peters launched the recall petition in January, citing Johnson’s City Hall atten- dance record and party switch to Republi- can as reasons he wanted the mayor out of office. It would have taken 103,595 signa- tures to recall Johnson. Peters had been col- lecting signatures since January, but he failed to submit any to the city secretary. On his attendance record, Johnson said in the press release that his annual atten- dance rate has averaged 93.5% the past four years. However, KERA has reported that Johnson has missed more than 130 hours of City Council meetings since 2019. “This was a big, fat nothing-burger cooked up by self-promoting partisan op- portunists and served up by some click-hun- gry members of our local media whose breathless ‘reporting’ on the subject too of- ten resembled an endorsement of this ridic- ulous recall effort,” Johnson said in the press release. “My attendance was never truly the issue, and my publicly available at- tendance record proves it. My Administra- tion’s policies and vision for this city have remained unchanged and unwavering.” He said Peters’ effort never resembled anything legitimate and was a waste of time, energy and ink. “This was a nakedly partisan game played by leftists spinning a phony narra- tive,” he said. “In the end, far more words were written about this abject failure than there were lawful signatures gathered.” He added: “Fortunately, the people of Dallas know that our city is better off than it was five years ago. And despite numerous challenges and ample political noise, we have remained focused on what actually matters to our residents: making our city safer, stronger and more vibrant. We will continue to do so as we move forward to- gether in the years ahead.” Reached for comment, Peters said al- though he did collect some signatures, he didn’t want to submit any because he didn’t want to “show our hand.” This is because he plans to launch another recall effort soon. He said when he initially filed his petition to recall the mayor, he hoped Democratic orga- nizations in Dallas would support him, but that didn’t happen. “We’re going to re-strat- egize, get a new strategy without expecting anything from those organizations,” he said. Peters called Johnson’s press release “childlike.” “I don’t take it personally,” Peters said. “I just feel like a more mature person would listen to the concerns and the hearts of the community, and he could have used that press release as an opportunity to allow the community and citizens to understand why he made the decision [to switch parties] as opposed to trying to taunt their efforts.” ▼ CHILDREN WHERE THEY ARE AFTER COUNCIL VOTE, HEART HOUSE CAN KEEP SERVING CHILDREN . BY JACOB VAUGHN K ids romped on a playground on a warm February afternoon outside the Vickery Meadow Youth Develop- ment Foundation facility in Northeast Dal- las. Upstairs in the facility, older kids made fruit parfaits while learning about nutrition. All of this is part of Heart House, a non- profit that provides after school and sum- mer programming for refugee, immigrant and under-resourced children. Shannon Hendricks, executive director of Heart House, said the organization serves grades K–8. “What we focus on initially is their social-emotional health,” Hendricks said. “We know that many of these kids, due to the circumstances of their young lives, have potentially been through trauma or traumatic situations, so we want to help them stabilize mentally.” They work on mindfulness, emotional regulation and understanding emotions al- together. “You know, what does it mean to be angry?” Hendricks said. “What are some productive ways that you can handle an- ger?” These are some of the skills the orga- nization tries to teach the kids it serves. “We help them with breathing techniques, un- derstanding how they can do some stress re- lief on their own,” Hendricks said. “Until those basic needs are met, their academic needs are not going to be met.” The organization also helps students with homework, and reading and writing Screenshot/Libs of TikTok Hebron HIgh School chemistry teacher Rachmad Tjachyadi resigned this week. Nathan Hunsinger Mayor Eric Johnson says he’s on track for a 94% City Hall attendance rate for the current year. Unfair Park from p8
