Southlake Mayor Calls Department Of Education's Probe Into Discrimination At Carroll ISD A 'Costly Distraction'
SOUTHLAKE, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Southlake Mayor John Huffman calls a federal civil rights probe into the city's school district a "costly distraction."
Mayor Huffman suggested the Carroll ISD School Board's opposition to the teaching of critical race theory is behind what he views as pure political retaliation with this investigation.
But some parents with students in Carroll ISD insist that there is a race problem here and it needs to be addressed.
"When my 10th grader was in 5th grade she had to sit through a class of social studies where there was a video of 9/11," said Sheeza Mohsin. "It was pretty much insinuated that all Muslims are terrorists and after that she got comments like are you going to kill us are you a terrorist?"
That episode 5 years ago was followed by a video that emerged in 2018 of Carroll High School students chanting racial slurs.
It prompted the mother of two to become more involved
"I definitely notice there's a lot of privilege here and a lot of sabotaging growth and may be impacting it in a way that work that we are not able to move forward and it makes me sad," said Moshin.
Mohsin applauds the news that the U.S. Department of Education has opened an investigation into race and gender discrimination complaints.
Dr. Stephen Waddle is a UNT professor who worked as a superintendent in North Texas for 20 years.
He explained what Carroll ISD can expect to from investigators.
"The district's going to have to comply with a lot of work to provide documents," he said. "There's a possibility there will be some interviews."
Carroll ISD issued a statement saying, "Our district is fully cooperating with this process and diligently pulling all documents requested."
But Mayor Huffman took issue with the investigation posting to Facebook, "I don't think I am alone in wondering if this investigation is retaliation for our voters rejecting the pro-CRT CCAP plan, especially since the threat to involve the federal government was made by some CCAP supporters to the media."
CCAP is a Cultural Competence Action plan that the district tried to impose last year but was blocked by court action from parents who called it reverse racism.
Moshsin says that move silenced the voices of 39 percent of district's students who are minorities.
"II will tell you that I'm somewhat relieved and hopeful that there is a level accountability here," she said.
How long this investigation will take is unclear, but they average about six months.
