Lt. Gov. Patrick calls for FWISD superintendent's resignation
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick wants the Fort Worth ISD Superintendent to resign over new transgender guidelines he added to the district's policy.
A conservative watch-dog group has gotten involved to rally parents to protest at Tuesday’s school board meeting.
Zeb Pent with the Texas Values watchdog group says parents in Fort Worth never got the chance to vote on, or comment on, or even discuss new transgender guidelines announced by the superintendent nearly two weeks ago. He says they'll be showing up in droves to the Fort Worth ISD board meeting Tuesday night in protest.
"They asked people to take a survey for their new website, they're asking for opinion and feedback on the website and yet there was no opinion no feedback on something as overreaching as broad as these guidelines,” said Pent.
The guidelines spell out how the district will handle transgender student issues, including the use of bathrooms.
Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick called for new Fort Worth ISD Superintendent Dr. Kent Scribner to resign saying in a statement, "After less than a year as superintendent, Dr. Scribner has lost his focus...has placed his own personal political agenda ahead of the more than 86,000 students."
The district policy regarding student welfare and non-discrimination is about two years old, but new guidelines concerning transgender students were announced by Scribner at the meeting on April 26.
Texas Values calls the new guidelines dangerous.
Among the guidelines, administrators are instructed to call students ‘students or scholars’ instead of ‘boys and girls.’
The new guidelines also say that notifying a parent or guardian “carries risks for the student in some cases.” It also says that school staff “may only share this information on a need-to-know basis... This includes sharing information with the student's parent or guardian."
Regarding bathroom use by transgender students, the new guidelines say "If other students feel uncomfortable sharing a restroom with a transgender student or if a student has a need or desire for increased privacy, the school must allow the student(s) access to a single stall restroom, a gender neutral restroom, or the opportunity to visit the facility when other students are not present."
There were no public hearings, forums or meetings with parents during the formation of those guidelines. A district spokesperson says the superintendent does not have to involve the public as per state law. Pent, however, says he sure should have.
"The ISD's job is not to parent children,” said Pent. “The ISD's job is to teach children."