Ben Davis, the husband of Republican candidate for Dallas County Judge Lauren Davis, alleges that leaders at Dallas ISD colluded in violating their First Amendment right to “petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
The allegation stems from a September 2021 email sent by current Dallas ISD Trustee Dustin Marshall to Pam Lear, the chief of staff for Superintendent Michael Hinojosa, asking that all future emails from the Davis family to be rerouted to the school district’s legal team.
“I’d like to formally request that all communication going forward with the Davis family be handled by our legal department so that our Administrative team can focus on educating kids instead of this constant distraction,” wrote Marshall.
Additionally, Marshall requested that the school district’s IT department block all Dallas ISD email addresses from receiving future emails from the Davis family.
“I’d request that our IT team block all other DISD email addresses from receiving their constant harassing emails,” wrote Marshall.
Lear responded that she would follow that request. Several other Dallas ISD leaders, including Superintendent Hinojosa, were copied on the email along with Marshall and Lear.
The preceding email chain that led to the Davis family getting their emails blocked was regarding a comment principal Beth Wing allegedly made to the family’s son, Pierce, that not wearing a mask again “would prevent him from applying to a Magnet program.”
That claim was incorrect, and when Davis emailed Principal Wing about the matter, she replied with an apology, stating that she “must have misspoke.”
Davis added that a medical doctor advised his son not to wear a mask as it would cause him “negative consequences.”
A subsequent email from Davis replied with “Why did you lie to our child, and was Ms. Allen complicit in the intimidation and harassment scheme?”
After that email went unanswered, Davis sent a subsequent email in a similar vein, followed by the email from Trustee Marshall to Chief of Staff Lear asking for the family’s emails to be blocked.
The email from Marshall said that the school should send a letter to the Davis family to inform them to route all future concerns to the school district’s legal team.
However, Davis told The Dallas Express that his family never received any letter or notification that the IT department blocked their emails. The email communication between the school officials only came to light after the Davis family reviewed documents received from an open records request.
“If we, as taxpaying citizens and parents in our own school district, are prohibited from interacting with our elected officials and school administration officials, our Constitutional rights will be violated,” Davis asserted. “Elected and government officials must be held accountable for their conduct and be removed from office for this intentional and egregious behavior.”
“Additionally, Superintendent Hinojosa was copied on this email and was fully aware of and likely directed this action,” Davis added. “He should be removed from office immediately, along with Dustin Marshall and Pam Lear.”
The Dallas Express reached out to Superintendent Hinojosa, Chief of Staff Lear, and Trustee Marshall for comments on the matter but did not receive a response.