MCKINNEY — A local man who had been barred from setting foot on McKinney Independent School District (MISD) property can once again attend school board meetings and his children’s school functions after a Texas Education Agency (TEA) administrative judge ruled in his favor last week.
Samuel Hall was trying to attend a meeting of MISD’s Board of Trustees on May 17, 2022, when he was issued a criminal trespass warning by a school resource officer who told him he had three minutes to get off district property or he would be arrested.
According to administrative hearing documents obtained by The Dallas Express, Hall had cursed at a board meeting in April, which may have been the basis for his being given the trespass warning.
However, an administrative law judge concluded that MISD violated Hall’s parental rights because the school resource officer did not give him a verbal warning that inappropriate behavior in a school setting could get him ejected.
Additionally, the judge found that the criminal trespass warning was invalid. The warning was initially indefinite until MISD clarified that it was for two years.
“As the two-year ban severely impairs [Hall’s] ability to be a partner in his children’s education and to attend school board meetings, particularly when [Hall] threatened no one, did not disrupt a school activity, and the criminal trespass warning does not otherwise comply with Texas Education Code … the criminal trespass warning violates [Hall’s] parental rights,” reads the judge’s Proposal of Decision, which will be sent to TEA Commissioner Mike Morath’s office for consideration.
At a Tuesday press conference in front of MISD’s administration building, Hall and students with special needs advocate Debra Lopez Liva, who assisted Hall in his administrative hearings, fielded questions shortly before an MISD Board of Trustees meeting was set to begin.
“We’re grateful for this victory. We’re not sure what Morath is going to do … [and] certainly McKinney ISD has the right to appeal that decision,” said Liva.
She admonished MISD for having the officer issue Hall a trespass warning and suggested the district did not present the facts of the case accurately or honestly at grievance hearings.
“They failed. They failed this family. They failed their children … We cannot allow that as parents, as a community, as citizens. We cannot allow that. I’ve been telling everybody that I can, you’ve got to know your rights,” Liva said.
The Dallas Express asked Hall how it felt to be allowed back on MISD property.
“You know, not being able to pick up or drop off your kids from school or attend orchestra, other school events, that was hard on myself and my wife and kids. So, I think it feels amazing to be able to come to a school event and not think [I’m] going to get arrested,” Hall said.
Hall was one of several concerned parents and community members attending MISD school board meetings last year to voice opposition against the district hosting library materials Hall and others perceive as sexually explicit or obscene, Texas Scorecard reported.
The issue has animated parents all over North Texas, even in the Dallas Independent School District, where several allegedly obscene books and graphic novels were identified and continue to be accessible to students, as previously reported in The Dallas Express.
“I really want this to be an example for all parents, for all students, for all activists, for people that go to school board meetings, where [U.S. Attorney] Merrick Garland and the [Department of Justice] are sending the FBI to investigate us and calling us domestic terrorists,” Hall said, referencing Garland’s controversial directive instructing federal law enforcement to investigate alleged threats made against school officials across the country.
“You don’t have to be bullied. You don’t have to be intimidated. You can fight, and you can win,” Hall added.
The Dallas Express asked Hall if he planned on attending the evening’s school board meeting.
“Yeah, I’ll be there in person, and I will be a presence,” Hall said.
The Dallas Express reached out to MISD for comment on the administrative judge’s recent ruling but did not hear back by press time.