#katy isd

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KUHT-FM:  Cy-Fair ISD considers gender identity policy that would notify parents about preferred pronouns

The proposed policy mirrors nearby Katy ISD's "gender fluidity" guidance requiring students to use restrooms and locker room facilities that correspond with their biological sex. That policy drew complaints and an ongoing federal investigation led by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights

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The four board members cited "parental rights" as the main reason for approving the policy in a 4-1 vote

[thoughtportal]

The Strange Case of Lance Hindt Jonathan Bailey February 4, 2020 https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2020/02/04/the-strange-case-of-lance-hindt/

In July 2016, Lance Hindt was appointed to a 5-year term as superintendent of the Katy Independent School District (ISD). It was a triumphant moment for Hindt, one that saw him come back to his hometown to head one of the largest school districts in Texas.

He began the job on October 1st and, by most accounts, his tenure was reasonably successful. He backed teacher pay raises and even drafted a $609 million bond package that won over voter approval.

However, his career took a sharp turn on March 19, 2018. On that day, during an otherwise routine school board meeting, a former classmate of Hindt, Gregory Gay, took to the podium and accused Hindt of bullying him during their time junior high school together.

Hindt was seen chuckling at the allegations, which helped cause the video of the accusations to go viral and become national news, despite the allegations being nearly 40 years old.

Hindt, for his part, denied the allegations but others came forward, including an Alabama judge, to accuse Hindt of having a bullying past. There was even a lawsuit that accused Hindt of beating a man unconscious when he was 18. The case was settled without criminal charges.

But in the midst of the bullying allegations, a new set of accusations rose to the surface. Sean Dolan, himself a former Katy ISD student and parent of children in the district, noted on his blog, A Better Legacy, similarities between Hindt’s 2012 dissertation from the University of Houston and a 2008 dissertation by Keith Rowland at Liberty University.

However, shortly after the allegations were launched, Hindt announced his resignation from the position, which took effect on January 1, 2019. According to Hindt, he and his family were the victims of an “Organized and relentless and dishonest smear campaign,” and he needed to step away for his family’s sake.

But, while his resignation announcement was met with literal cheers, what happened after added a new layer of controversy to Hindt’s story. First, the school board set aside some $25,000 to be used in a potential defamation lawsuit filed on Hindt’s behalf. Second, they gave him a two-year separation payment, estimated to be worth $750,000.

This angered many, who wondered why taxpayer money was being used to provide him approximately two years worth of salary and legal aid after he resigned. According to Dolan, the severance also resulted in a $350,000 penalty on the district issued by the state.

However, after that resignation, things went quiet. The University of Houston continued its plagiarism investigation and, in January of this year, removed the dissertation from their site. The university has not commented publicly on the reason for the removal nor whether any other action has been taken against Hindt, but the policy of the university only allows for such removals to happen under special circumstances, “including copyright violations, plagiarism or falsification of data.”

For Dolan, who has not been sued so far, this was a vindication. While it likely brings the story to a close, it is an ending that leaves more questions than answers and more problems than solutions.

The Bizarre Element

What makes the Lance Hindt case so unusual is not the allegations against him. Neither the bullying allegations nor the plagiarism allegations are, by themselves, unusual. Many people in prominent positions face allegations of a checkered past and even accusations of plagiarism in dissertations are remarkably common.

What is unusual in this case is the response by both Hindt and the Katy ISD. With both allegations, Hindt and the Katy ISD never really took the allegations seriously. Though Hindt did eventually apologize for his bullying past and admit to being a young man that “did dumb things”, that came out after details surrounding the lawsuit emerged.

Looking back to the plagiarism element, Hindt has always denied committing any plagiarism, even after Dolan and others pointed at significant portions of overlapping text. Even now, with the removal of his dissertation, he had not admitted to issues with his work and has stayed silent since the latest news.

But what is even more bizarre is the support from the Katy ISD. The school board never wavered from their support for Hindt and never seriously investigated any of the allegations against him.

At least some teachers in the district were similar, even holding a rally for him after a school board meeting.

Why this was the case is anyone’s guess. Hindt was largely responsible for a major bond referendum that brought in $609 million to the district and also helped increase teacher pay. However, even that doesn’t explain the complete lack of curiosity about the allegations.

Judging from the extensive news coverage, no one at Katy ISD investigated or even sought to significantly address the allegations. This may have ultimately harmed Hindt, who could have benefited from an impartial and transparent investigation that showed both he and the Katy ISD were taking the issues seriously.

However, it’s also a missed opportunity in other ways. One of the major criticisms of Hindt has been his handling of bullying at the Katy ISD. When revelations about his own past came out, he had an opportunity to talk openly about it, discuss what he had learned from it, why he changed and how it was going to apply those lessons to his duties.

Likewise, with the plagiarism allegations, there was an opportunity to show that the Katy ISD takes academic integrity seriously, investigate the claims independently and show students that these issues are significant. They missed that opportunity as well.

By rushing to his defense, the board and educators at the Katy ISD not only may have hastened his resignation by throwing gasoline on the firestorm around him, but they also missed some great opportunities to actually teach the students under their charge.

Bottom Line

To be clear, the major critics of Hindt do have at least a degree of personal animosity against him. However, that doesn’t mean that he’s the victim of a smear campaign. To find that out, one has to look at the facts.

The facts seem to indicate that he is, at the very least, problematic in these areas. The lawsuit against him and the removal of his dissertation don’t necessarily prove that he was a horrible person or a rampant plagiarist, but they hint that there were issues in his past. These are issues that Hindt and the Katy ISD ignored and denied.

By not confronting these issues openly, directly and transparently, Hindt and the Katy ISD made things much worse. That’s true not just for Hindt, but for the students in the district.

And that, in turn, is what is strange about this story. That what was best for the students was never really addressed. The board and at least some of the district’s teachers rushed to protect Hindt without really addressing the issues behind the controversies.

In doing so, they missed some great opportunities to turn this controversy into something positive and only harmed everyone involved.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Police called to 'investigate' book with gay character at public high school library

Marissa Higgins at Daily Kos:

If there’s one thing we can count on conservatives to do, it’s … Ban books? Apparently yes, even in 2022. As we get closer to midterm elections this November, we’ve seen Republicans at all levels of government stir anti-queer hysteria by launching attacks on vulnerable trans people when it comes to sports, health care, and even the basic dignity of safe bathroom access. We’ve also seen anti-queer rhetoric more broadly come up in Don't Say Gay bills and efforts to get Pride flags and discussions of pronouns out of classrooms.

And, of course, the book bans. Conservatives are out to get books by and about queer writers (as well as writers of color, and especially queer writers of color) but most seem to know they can’t simply say they don’t want books by and about LGBTQ+ people in public schools and libraries. So they describe these books as “obscene” or “pornographic” or “inappropriate,” all of which are perfectly in tune with the “grooming” hysteria the party is pushing to further demonize queer people. It’s hateful, discriminatory, and scary. It’s also concerningly effective.

One recent example of book ban hysteria comes to us from a school district in the suburbs of Houston, Texas, where a book was temporarily removed from a public high school library by police after a parent complained, as covered by the Houston Chronicle. Yes, you read that correctly. By police.

Katy Independent School District confirmed to the outlet that a copy of Flamer by Mike Curato was removed from the library after a parent of a high school student filed a police report saying the material was harmful to minors. Flamer is a graphic novel for teens about queer identity, self-discovery, and self-love and acceptance in the 1990s.

These books are always relevant and important for young readers, but especially in today’s world, where young queer people and allies are hearing so much anti-LGBTQ+ messaging from elected officials and candidates. But of course, conservatives ultimately want to erase queer people and think they can stomp queerness out of youth.

The fact that the police were called over an LGBTQ+-affirming book (Flamer) in a high school to force its removal from the school library is yet another sad example of the right-wing censorship campaign against LGBTQ+ expression on the false basis of fighting “pornography.” 

[cypressnewsreview]

16 Katy ISD students on school bus during crash in Cypress area

16 Katy ISD students on school bus during crash in Cypress area

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