▼ Culture Farenheit 4-1-1 Grapevine/Colleyville ISD’s witch hunt against books is just the start. BY DANNY GALLAGHER T he Grapevine/Colleyville Inde- pendent School District (GCISD) canceled the Scholas- tic Book Fair last spring because of some books officials deemed as objectionable for students. That may not be the only thing the GCISD is trying to keep out of its schools. A policy proposed last spring could also target transgender students. A set of guidelines called the Classical So- cial and Emotional Learning (CSEL) Policy, proposed to the GCISD board of trustees in April, lays out the exclusion of certain books, materials and other instructional resources for students and teachers that discuss “critical race theory and other systematic discrimina- tion ideologies,” “gender fluidity and gender theory” and a broad definition of “pornogra- phy,” according to school board records. The guidelines also prohibit trans students from participating or competing in athletic events that are “designated for the biological sex opposite to the student’s biological sex.” “I’m both conservative and Christian and one thing to note is that people from all po- litical parties in our community are pretty upset with this new board majority,” says Grapevine parent Mindy Russell. “Their current actions are neither conservative nor Christ-like. They are more along the lines of authoritarian behavior.” However, GCISD board vice president Shannon Braun wrote an editorial on the right-leaning news site The Dallas Express, owned by Ashford Hospitality CEO and Re- publican campaign donor Monty Bennett, de- scribing the “transformation” of the district, Freddy Kearney/Unsplash which includes the elimination of 18,500 un- specified vendors that “poisoned the minds of children” and “sexualized our children.” “The board should not have to engage in this type of housecleaning but for too long the old guard sat back and encouraged the use of these types of materials,” Braun wrote. “Not anymore.” Attempts were made to reach each of the GCISD’s seven board members for comment, but none offered a response on the record. The district released a statement regard- ing the book fair cancellation, blaming Scho- lastic for not providing adequate documentation of the books it planned to put on sale. Scholastic Book Fairs offer up to 50 percent of proceeds back to participating schools, according to the Scholastic website. “In the spring of 2022, there were books mis-merchandised by the vendor and stu- dents purchased books with content that was not age appropriate,” the GCISD’s state- ment reads. “After this occured [sic] and as a precaution, remaining book fairs were also put on hold for the end of the school year.” Anne Sparkman, a spokeperson for Scho- lastic, says the company is “disappointed” with the GCISD’s decision to terminate their relationship. She also denies the dis- trict’s claims that the company did not try to respond to the district’s concerns. “When we were made aware of mis-mer- chandising during the fair experience, we of course immediately apologized and also inves- tigated what more could be done to help avoid similar situations in future,” Sparkman wrote We bring sophistication with a twist to the metaphysical and holistic markets with products, classes and services. We have locations in Dallas, Carrollton & Frisco. Psychic Hotline Now Available: 888-415-6208 WWW.SOULTOPIA.GURU BEST OF DALLAS AWARD WINNER Grapevine/Colleyville Independent School District wants to ban more than books. in an email. “Adult Bestsellers are included at the request of customers, so that teachers, vol- unteers, and the broader community can shop. Given the volume of shoppers browsing the book fair, titles are sometimes picked up, browsed, and mis-shelved.” Some parents are speaking up against the school board and the measures, which some describe as censorship. Their grassroots ef- forts include the Protect GCISD website and the Moms4GCISD Facebook group, both of which are supported by the nonprofit group the Texas Bipartisan Alliance. Protect GCISD has raised several areas of concerns about the school board and district’s actions over the last four months, some of which have put them in the national spotlight. Most recently, the district fired Colleyville Heritage High School principal James Whit- field, the district’s first African American prin- cipal, for speaking out against racismfollowing the murder of George Floyd and for a letter he wrote to the school which noted that educa- tion is “the key to stomping out ignorance, hate and systemic racism.” Rachel Wall, the vice president of the Texas Bipartisan Alliance and mother of a Grapevine student, says the district’s right- wing influence over the operations of the school curriculum and faculty has created a nickname among parents. “We call ourselves a Patriot Mobile dis- trict now,” Wall says, referring to the Patriot Mobile Action political action committee that helped mobilize and advertise the cam- paign of several of GCISD’s current board members. On a recent flyer and their web- site, the Patriot Mobile Action congratulated its followers for securing victories for 11 “Christian conservative candidates” in dis- tricts including Grapevine/Colleyville. Grassroots efforts are also being mobilized by those who support the new school board. Among them are some who aren’t parents of GCISD students. A flyer distributed by the Tarrant County chapter of Moms for Liberty urged members to attend school board meet- ings in Grapevine. The conservative non- profit is known for packing school board meetings nationwide to protest mask man- dates and curriculum issues covering the his- tory or teaching of LGTBQ rights, racial discrimination and science that contradict religious dogma. Parts of the CESL policy adopted in April described the prohibition of materials and les- sons that suggest “meritocracy or traits such as a hard work ethic are racist or sexist or were created by members of a particular race or group to oppress members of another race or group.” Also barred are lessons about “the de- livery of slaves and the advent of slavery in the territory that is now the United States.” “The issue for me is they’re taking the choice away from us,” Wall says. “[The board] ran on platforms of giving parents a choice, like if they want parents to have a choice of wearing a mask to school, but what they’re doing is taking away my choice to let my child buy what books he wants to buy. My family can afford to go to Barnes & No- ble’s ... but the benefit of Scholastic is offer- ing a reasonable price for families.” Section 3 of the policy outlines material that forbids any study, instruction or use of materials “adopting, supporting or promot- ing Gender Fluidity.” The policy establishes athletic guidelines in which “the district may not allow a student to compete in an in- terscholastic athletic competition spon- sored or authorized by the district that is designated for the biological sex opposite to the student’s biological sex.” “The district will not promote, require or S 10 Visit us: 900 W Davis St, Dallas • 3414 Midcourt Rd #100, Carrollton 7004 Lebanon Rd, STE 106, Frisco, Texas 75034 a fe l y S encourage the use of pronoun identifiers for students, teachers or any other persons in any manner that is inconsistent with the biological sex of such person as listed on the student’s birth certificate or, if not available, in a similar used legal document,” according to the policy. hop n lin e 1 dallasobserver.com | CONTENTS | UNFAIR PARK | SCHUTZE | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | MOVIES | DISH | MUSIC | CLASSIFIED | DALLAS OBSERVER MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2014 SEPTEMBER 1–7, 2022 DALLAS OBSERVER CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS dallasobserver.com 2020 O
