Policy experts in Texas are slamming Dallas ISD for its promotion of resources that provide guidance on obtaining transgender hormones and “socially transitioning” genders.
The district published a document titled “LGBTQ+ Resources for Dallas ISD & Surrounding Communities.” The document advised how to transition between genders and recommended two Texas clinics that have facilitated transgender hormone usage, as reported last week by The Dallas Express.
The document, which also promoted books about children who identify as transgender to elementary school students, was made private after the publication of the story.
Jonathan Covey, the policy director for Texas Values, claimed Dallas ISD’s promotion of such materials could lead to lawsuits from families who could allege religious discrimination.
“This is a failure at every level for Texas students and parents,” Covey told The Dallas Express. “And it opens the district to tremendous liability.”
“Ninety-nine percent of parents just want their kids to learn how to read and write,” he continued. “Are they a think tank for LGBT issues, or are they a public school? They’re playing with fire instead of focusing on math and science and reading.”
According to the district’s latest Texas Education Agency accountability report, Dallas ISD underperformed across several metrics during the 2021-2022 school year. Only 41% of students scored at grade level on their STAAR exams despite the hard work of the district’s teachers, and almost 20% of Dallas ISD’s graduating Class of 2022 did not earn a diploma in four years.
Robyn Harris, the executive director of Dallas ISD’s communications team, previously told The Dallas Express that the resource document was only available at the request of parents and employees. It was later revealed the district openly promoted the document.
“Check out our new LGBTQ+ resource guide, created by DallasISD Mental Health Services Clinicians, Devyn Box, Dianne Bippert, Dr. Poonam Dubal, and Mahoganie Gaston, Coordinator for DallasISD’s LGBTQ+ Support Services! @dallasschools,” Dallas ISD Mental Health Services wrote in a post on Twitter in May 2021. The post was deleted after the publication of The Dallas Express’ report last week.
Harris did not respond to further requests for comment on the district’s decision to make the document private.
Mandy Drogin, a campaign director for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, said Texas lawmakers need to pass school choice legislation to ensure parents have better opportunities to remove their children from schools they perceive to have a political agenda.
“When were parents notified that the school district would be providing children information on harmful and unproven gender modification therapies and surgery?” Drogin told The Dallas Express. “Why is the district engaging in the promotion of this material at all?”
“Parents send their kids to school to learn the skills they need to prepare for the workforce or college, not to be indoctrinated with controversial theories and unproven pseudo-science,” she continued.
Brady Gray, president of the Texas Family Project, expressed similar sentiments, noting that a large share of Dallas ISD students come from vulnerable, low-income families.
“Sexuality has no place in the classroom,” Gray told The Dallas Express. “These issues are for parents to discuss with their kids and should never be addressed by a teacher, especially when dealing with elementary-age children.”
Coverage of the resource document marks the latest in a series of reports by The Dallas Express that spotlight Dallas ISD’s seeming endorsement of gender ideology in schools. The district partnered with the Resource Center, a Dallas-based transgender clinic, for its Out for Safe Schools program. Another investigation found the district is set to launch an after-school sex education program with Healthy Futures of Texas, a left-wing organization that promotes transgender hormone usage.
In a previous statement to The Dallas Express, Harris said the Out for Safe Schools program is an optional training for teachers in the district meant to “ensure all students have a safe school experience.” When asked if the program instructs teachers to promote transgender hormone usage, Harris said it “does not provide hormone therapy for any student.”
