Recordings of all board meetings are available to the public here.
The first two videos show GCISD students discussing their experiences with racism and discrimination.
The first two videos show GCISD students discussing their experiences with racism and discrimination.
GCISD Teacher and Staff Testimony
Please pray for us teachers.
We are scared.
We are being micromanaged beyond reason.
We are being banned from buying BOOKS to read to our STUDENTS. PICTURE books.
We are being treated like this is Salem in 1692.
We are tired before the year has begun.
We want to give up.
We have never felt this insulted, belittled and abused.
We are scared.
We are being micromanaged beyond reason.
We are being banned from buying BOOKS to read to our STUDENTS. PICTURE books.
We are being treated like this is Salem in 1692.
We are tired before the year has begun.
We want to give up.
We have never felt this insulted, belittled and abused.
If this administration and this community is waiting for teachers to come forward -they will not. Teachers are absolutely scared of the repercussions and ramifications for speaking out about the horrible things that are going on in this district right now. When we hear that there are “lists” of teachers that are being targeted we are afraid to be a part of the solution. Make no mistake – there is a problem in GCISD. Sadly, teachers feel that they must be silent or they will be punished.
I am a 20+ year teacher in GCISD. My children went through GCISD. Let me start by saying that it’s a sad day here in this community when I have to have this read anonymously. I am questioning some members of the board…is it your agenda to put fear in us? To silence us? If you stumble across my social media and find I have a gay son am I then placed on your “list” because now I’m deemed poisonous? When do we get to see this “list” we know it’s there. It came straight from a board members mouth. Please do better. Please support your teachers please make them want to work for GCISD (yes, we still work even when we have students absent) Guess why teachers left?? Because of some of you!! Do you see all of the positions still needing to be filled!?? We are making headlines and not the kind that draw teachers to want to work for this district. Lastly, thank you to the board members whom we feel safe and supported by. We see you and we appreciate you.
While there are a multitude of concerns heading into this coming school year, I can only focus on what I need to know to be a successful educator. In an attempt to be on the same page and understand GCISD’s mission, I have a few questions I would like each board member to answer.
It’s been noted that at least one school board member mentioned an interest in classically-based education. Do you intend to push forward a classical educational paradigm for the entire district? Or is the idea to make it a campus specialty, like the STEM school? If so, how does that fit with Lead 2.0. Will Lead 2.0 be retired? How would that educational system fit with federal and state mandates? Is the goal to by-pass federal and state mandates?
Have you had any experience traveling abroad? If so, how has it influenced your thinking with preparing students to compete and cooperate in a global world and economy?
An election platform was presented by many members of the board in regards to “parents taking back their child’s education”. What do you foresee as the parent role and accountability in their child’s education? Will the parents have an expectation to assure their child’s daily preparedness and on-task work ethic? What will the accountability piece for the parent look like?
Do you or do you not support the implementation of a charter school? If so, are you aware that charter schools are not required to follow state mandated guidelines such as class size limitations as well as administration and financial accountability? How would that be addressed?
At a time when our challenges and struggles are significantly great in regards to helping students reach their potential, what cooperative initiatives for unity between the teachers, students, parents and the community are you interested in implementing?
Teacher pay and incentives in GCISD are abysmal. Is there a short-term and a lonng-term plan to retain and attract quality staff and administration?
The platform many of you ran on was one of dissatisfaction with the current status of GCISD. It is easy to criticize and teardown a system, yet very difficult to create and implement a new one. Do you have a strategic plan to share on how to build the GCISD you envision?
If you are unsuccessful in your attempts to better GCISD and at the end of your term, Grapevine-Colleyville is left with an empty-shelled abandoned warehouse of an education system, will you be ok with your name being permanently attached to this result?
Am I on your poison teacher list?
It’s been noted that at least one school board member mentioned an interest in classically-based education. Do you intend to push forward a classical educational paradigm for the entire district? Or is the idea to make it a campus specialty, like the STEM school? If so, how does that fit with Lead 2.0. Will Lead 2.0 be retired? How would that educational system fit with federal and state mandates? Is the goal to by-pass federal and state mandates?
Have you had any experience traveling abroad? If so, how has it influenced your thinking with preparing students to compete and cooperate in a global world and economy?
An election platform was presented by many members of the board in regards to “parents taking back their child’s education”. What do you foresee as the parent role and accountability in their child’s education? Will the parents have an expectation to assure their child’s daily preparedness and on-task work ethic? What will the accountability piece for the parent look like?
Do you or do you not support the implementation of a charter school? If so, are you aware that charter schools are not required to follow state mandated guidelines such as class size limitations as well as administration and financial accountability? How would that be addressed?
At a time when our challenges and struggles are significantly great in regards to helping students reach their potential, what cooperative initiatives for unity between the teachers, students, parents and the community are you interested in implementing?
Teacher pay and incentives in GCISD are abysmal. Is there a short-term and a lonng-term plan to retain and attract quality staff and administration?
The platform many of you ran on was one of dissatisfaction with the current status of GCISD. It is easy to criticize and teardown a system, yet very difficult to create and implement a new one. Do you have a strategic plan to share on how to build the GCISD you envision?
If you are unsuccessful in your attempts to better GCISD and at the end of your term, Grapevine-Colleyville is left with an empty-shelled abandoned warehouse of an education system, will you be ok with your name being permanently attached to this result?
Am I on your poison teacher list?
Years of profesional development and knowledge have been pushed out the door with this new majority and the force fake balance budget and forced staff reductions. It will take years if even possible to get the level of knowledge lost back in the distirct. Even when the last scores released showed things increasing it will all be lost.
Para in the district. According to recent infromation the "new" lawyer makes $400 an hour. The past board meetings run atleast 6 hours so that would be $2,400 . That one night amount is more then 90% of paras in the district make in a month. You know the group of employees the board decided do not deserve a raise like teachers. Under valued and over worked as the board pushes staff cuts , however hire an attorney that in one night or board meeting will make more then a para will in an entire month of work. Thanks for the support board.
I worked in GCISD for over 20 years. I left the district in May because the new members of this board do not appear to value teachers. A 2% raise is the lowest in the area. The last few years in education have been very hard! The expectation of our time, the way we are directed to teach, the more student voice we are instructed to collect, the new technology and learning platforms we have to use is very difficult! Students are very different since the pandemic started in March of 2020, yet no one acknowledged that they lost months of instruction. I chose to resign because I see this getting worse with the newly elected board members. Very sad that we have people making decisions for our students in GCISD who currently do not even have children in our schools! I do have children in this district and I am very concerned about their future. Please express to the board that the teachers in GCISD need to be supported not questioned. There are so many great educators who have left the district and many more who are planning to leave. What has the board done to show that they value teachers or any GCISD employee?
This school board has lost my trust. Certain members have created a hostile environment which invites fear of retaliation for simply teaching the curriculum. When I hear comments about having a list of teachers that have to go, I wonder how you could do that when you’ve never even been in our classrooms long enough to know us. I also question the legality of having a “target” list as well. There is more I could say, but perhaps you should simply look at the mass exodus of teachers that have already left because of the, to use one of your owns words, “poison” from this school board. If this continues more good teachers will leave and the only ones that will suffer are the students. Hold yourselves accountable for the mess that you’ve created and then take actionable steps and fix it. Earn our trust back.
I resigned from GCISD in June. A major reason was due to the change in the district’s climate and culture since last summer. The tension is palpable. Teachers and staff are already asked to do so much, but when you add the constant feeling of being targeted in social media and board meetings it became too much. The decimation of the Curriculum & Instruction department has taken away invaluable, necessary support and training, as well as removed many opportunities for professional growth and promotion that helps keep the best in our district. The new board members have created a toxic “gotcha” culture where the amazing teachers and staff of GCISD are no longer respected and is demoralizing. There has been a mass exodus from GCISD this year. Why should we stay when you obviously don’t want us here?
It’s all just too much. People are looking for reasons to hate teachers (“we need to pull the voting records of our kids’ teacher to see what primaries they vote in to make sure they vote like us, see if they are the kind of Christians we, and we need to do a deep dive on all their social media. Teachers must present a squeaky clean Christian moral image and lifestyle that we approve of. If we don’t like what we find we need to publicly ruin them!”) We are getting in trouble for teaching the approved history TEKS that we are supposed to teach (“that’s CRT you socialist wack job and you should be fired!”). We get in trouble for saying that we are anti racist (“that’s reverse racism against white people and you should be fired”). We are getting in trouble for promoting kindness/being a good person (“well that’s obviously SEL you bleeding heart liberal and you should be fired!”). We are getting in trouble for doing the legally required hearing and vision screeners (“how dare you take away my role as a parent you Marxist and you should be fired!”).
We get in trouble for simply having a book on our bookshelf that a student can check out if they want to (“it offends me so no one should read it, you smut peddler and we should ban these books, and maybe fire some teachers!”). We get in trouble for celebrating all the beliefs and cultures of our students that are represented in our classroom (“you are indoctrinating children with anti-American/anti-Christian thoughts and should be fired!”). We get in trouble for teaching critical thinking skills (“how dare you allow my child to have access to opposing viewpoint than those of mine! You should be fired!”). We get in trouble for encouraging (“don’t even finish your sentence because that’s CRT and you should be fired!) standing up for what they believe in even if it’s not popular (“see! It’s all BLM, CRT, and you should be fired I’ll tell them what they believe in!!”). We get in trouble for defending ourselves
All this is happening while I am just absolutely loving am my students and trying to make the world a better place for them knowing that I would LITERALLY take a bullet for them. I say that last part because every single time there is yet another school shooting I remind my husband of this “If there is ever an incident at any school I work at, as long as there is a breath in my body my kids are safe. If that means I’m not coming home that day so be it. No harm will come to my kids as long as I’m alive”.
I can’t even tell you the number of really awesome teachers that are thinking about leaving GCISD. Some teachers want to go back to their inner-city schools where they were appreciated and respected. Let that sink in for a minute. Teachers are going to leave GCISD, not for higher pay but for respect and appreciation. I completely understand. In inner-city schools, the teachers are respected by the families who came to this country for a better life so they get it. We just want to teach in a place where they are respected, trusted, and treated like the professionals we are.
We get in trouble for simply having a book on our bookshelf that a student can check out if they want to (“it offends me so no one should read it, you smut peddler and we should ban these books, and maybe fire some teachers!”). We get in trouble for celebrating all the beliefs and cultures of our students that are represented in our classroom (“you are indoctrinating children with anti-American/anti-Christian thoughts and should be fired!”). We get in trouble for teaching critical thinking skills (“how dare you allow my child to have access to opposing viewpoint than those of mine! You should be fired!”). We get in trouble for encouraging (“don’t even finish your sentence because that’s CRT and you should be fired!) standing up for what they believe in even if it’s not popular (“see! It’s all BLM, CRT, and you should be fired I’ll tell them what they believe in!!”). We get in trouble for defending ourselves
All this is happening while I am just absolutely loving am my students and trying to make the world a better place for them knowing that I would LITERALLY take a bullet for them. I say that last part because every single time there is yet another school shooting I remind my husband of this “If there is ever an incident at any school I work at, as long as there is a breath in my body my kids are safe. If that means I’m not coming home that day so be it. No harm will come to my kids as long as I’m alive”.
I can’t even tell you the number of really awesome teachers that are thinking about leaving GCISD. Some teachers want to go back to their inner-city schools where they were appreciated and respected. Let that sink in for a minute. Teachers are going to leave GCISD, not for higher pay but for respect and appreciation. I completely understand. In inner-city schools, the teachers are respected by the families who came to this country for a better life so they get it. We just want to teach in a place where they are respected, trusted, and treated like the professionals we are.
I think any vocal and actionable support we can get would be wonderful, because I’ll be honest-teacher morale is low.
Nearly all the teacher friends and acquaintances I have (across MANY districts) are questioning their future in this career. So many things have led to this.
Implementing Covid protocols last year was hard; very laborious and time-consuming for the teachers, but we all understood why it needed to happen. This year it feels like, officially, it’s been decided that Covid is done, and that has left us feeling vulnerable as well as worrying for our own students and our own children that attend school. This can largely be blamed on TEA and the state, as they have provided no support or funds to help districts mitigate Covid spread or support teachers and students who may want to continue with virtual learning.
Speaking of things to blame on TEA, not only would they like to pretend that Covid is not a thing, they would also like us to make up two years of disrupted learning in a single year. They not only want students to progress, they would like students to be performing better than ever. I have never heard more teachers say that their leadership has told them they really need to try to get EVEN more kids to score meets and masters on the STAAR test. The focus on this flawed and inequitable test, and the usage of it to label our students, teachers, and schools is absolutely ridiculous. And this isn’t just a teacher opinion; nearly every single person I have talk to in the education field from the top superintendents to the first year teachers will tell you that this test is not a good measure of the progress our students are making, yet I cannot understand why we cannot get a people-led effort out there to say NO to this thing. It feels like we are screaming into the abyss and no one in state power cares that this is hurting kids and adding stress to everyone’s lives.
Lastly comes the focus of this article. So many of our district’s teachers have advanced degrees, multiple hours of training, extra certifications, and years of experience teaching the community’s youth. Yet, a small vocal minority in our community has the power to demonize us and infantilize us at the same time. It’s laughable and exhausting at the same time.
I personally know there are so many of y’all that support us, and I appreciate it so much. We definitely need that support to be 1 million times more vocal, there really can’t be enough. I’m so concerned that come next year, if the message is sent to teachers that their lesson plans will be constantly scrutinized (with ill intent) by biased community members, that they will be forced to add new programs and state mandated “fixes” without training or anything else being taken off their already extremely overflowing plates, and that they will continue to be disrespected and unprotected as valued members of the communities, there will no longer be teachers to rally to protect.
Nearly all the teacher friends and acquaintances I have (across MANY districts) are questioning their future in this career. So many things have led to this.
Implementing Covid protocols last year was hard; very laborious and time-consuming for the teachers, but we all understood why it needed to happen. This year it feels like, officially, it’s been decided that Covid is done, and that has left us feeling vulnerable as well as worrying for our own students and our own children that attend school. This can largely be blamed on TEA and the state, as they have provided no support or funds to help districts mitigate Covid spread or support teachers and students who may want to continue with virtual learning.
Speaking of things to blame on TEA, not only would they like to pretend that Covid is not a thing, they would also like us to make up two years of disrupted learning in a single year. They not only want students to progress, they would like students to be performing better than ever. I have never heard more teachers say that their leadership has told them they really need to try to get EVEN more kids to score meets and masters on the STAAR test. The focus on this flawed and inequitable test, and the usage of it to label our students, teachers, and schools is absolutely ridiculous. And this isn’t just a teacher opinion; nearly every single person I have talk to in the education field from the top superintendents to the first year teachers will tell you that this test is not a good measure of the progress our students are making, yet I cannot understand why we cannot get a people-led effort out there to say NO to this thing. It feels like we are screaming into the abyss and no one in state power cares that this is hurting kids and adding stress to everyone’s lives.
Lastly comes the focus of this article. So many of our district’s teachers have advanced degrees, multiple hours of training, extra certifications, and years of experience teaching the community’s youth. Yet, a small vocal minority in our community has the power to demonize us and infantilize us at the same time. It’s laughable and exhausting at the same time.
I personally know there are so many of y’all that support us, and I appreciate it so much. We definitely need that support to be 1 million times more vocal, there really can’t be enough. I’m so concerned that come next year, if the message is sent to teachers that their lesson plans will be constantly scrutinized (with ill intent) by biased community members, that they will be forced to add new programs and state mandated “fixes” without training or anything else being taken off their already extremely overflowing plates, and that they will continue to be disrespected and unprotected as valued members of the communities, there will no longer be teachers to rally to protect.
How Did We Get Here?
That’s a great question recently asked by a buffoon who is about nothing but disruption. Some might think that we got here because a failed board candidate caused a stir at a board meeting in July. Others might say we got here because of True Texas Project (TTP). Still, others might even suggest we are here because of district leadership.
And I believe they all would be wrong.
While I question what has recently happened in GCISD, I recognize that I do not have all the details. Therefore, I can have an opinion, but I can’t really make factual statements about district leadership, a specific principal, or the board. We didn’t get here because of a loud-mouthed board wannabe or because of a principal who spoke out about social justice and equity. We have been getting here for a very long time - long before either of the aforementioned ever thought about GCISD.
A culture of privilege (yes, I said it) has been evident in Grapevine-Colleyville for many years, and any efforts to level the playing field for the less privileged have been met with vehement opposition.
Flashback to the late 1990s. Those who were here at that time remember Mike Snyder’s hatchet job about an insidious teaching methodology employed by GCISD. Mr. Snyder was a community member and anchor for NBC 5. The promo for the report showed dark passageways leading to what looked like some medieval torture chamber. It sucked viewers into wondering what hideous things were going on in GCISD schools. It certainly got my attention as I was a resident working in a neighboring district.
When the report finally aired, I was astonished to learn that the repulsive practice damaging our kids was cooperative learning. I was in charge of professional learning in my district at that time, and we provided extensive training in cooperative learning. Hundreds of studies provided evidence of its viability and positive impact on student achievement. So why would the district next door be vilified for doing the same thing?
Fast forward about 10 years. I am now in GCISD and working toward providing access to advanced academics for all students. It seemed like a reasonable and prudent thing to do. After all, a rising tide lifts all boats, right? Not in GCISD. The community reaction to our attempts to de-track middle school was swift and vehement. Needless to say, it didn’t happen.
How do these two incidents separated by a decade have anything to do with answering the question of how we got here? The best way I can answer that is by sharing a phone call I had with a parent who was adamantly opposed to providing equity and access to all students. After explaining the rationale for the proposed change, the parent responded with, “I’ve worked hard for my nice house and expensive car. I’ll be damned if my kids will be in class with those (kids).” She was a bit more specific about which kids, but you get the point. She obviously believed that her kids would lose if others were provided the same opportunities to win - classic scarcity mentality.
In her view, we were removing a buffer, a barrier between her kids and those kids. And that was not OK. After all, GCISD was known as a place where you could get a private school education at public school prices. Cooperative learning had the same effect. It put kids of varying ability and achievement levels together in a context in which their success was predicated on interdependence, individual accountability, collaborative skills, group autonomy, maximum peer interactions, and equal opportunity to participate. Admittedly, it takes a skilled teacher to do this well. Otherwise, it becomes group work where a few kids do all the work.
The commonality here is the concern about equity. Misguided people believe equity is a Robin Hood scheme - take from one group to give to another. A current board member even stated in a board meeting that we need to be anti-equity. Equity is about providing for student needs. Recognizing that students have varying needs causes educators to create conditions where all students can achieve at high levels. It’s not about ensuring equal outcomes. It is about leveling the playing field so all have the opportunity to achieve.
There are great examples of equity in action in GCISD. The first thing that comes to mind is ASPIRE Academy. We discovered a larger than usual percentage of students qualifying for GT as well as a number of students considered highly or exceptionally gifted. These students have the opportunity to be served through a special program that meets their unique needs. If we are anti-equity, would we abandon this program? I think we all know the answer to that question.
A culture of privilege has been growing for many years in GCISD, and there are those who will fight to the bitter end to maintain this culture. The difference between 10 or 20 years ago and today is that those battling the district now are more organized and incredibly well-funded. They may still represent a minority, but they have been successful in achieving two spots on the board and creating chaos that has resulted in advocates turning on the district. While this latest incident leaves a stain on the district, a school board with a majority of TTP-backed members will be catastrophic!
That’s a great question recently asked by a buffoon who is about nothing but disruption. Some might think that we got here because a failed board candidate caused a stir at a board meeting in July. Others might say we got here because of True Texas Project (TTP). Still, others might even suggest we are here because of district leadership.
And I believe they all would be wrong.
While I question what has recently happened in GCISD, I recognize that I do not have all the details. Therefore, I can have an opinion, but I can’t really make factual statements about district leadership, a specific principal, or the board. We didn’t get here because of a loud-mouthed board wannabe or because of a principal who spoke out about social justice and equity. We have been getting here for a very long time - long before either of the aforementioned ever thought about GCISD.
A culture of privilege (yes, I said it) has been evident in Grapevine-Colleyville for many years, and any efforts to level the playing field for the less privileged have been met with vehement opposition.
Flashback to the late 1990s. Those who were here at that time remember Mike Snyder’s hatchet job about an insidious teaching methodology employed by GCISD. Mr. Snyder was a community member and anchor for NBC 5. The promo for the report showed dark passageways leading to what looked like some medieval torture chamber. It sucked viewers into wondering what hideous things were going on in GCISD schools. It certainly got my attention as I was a resident working in a neighboring district.
When the report finally aired, I was astonished to learn that the repulsive practice damaging our kids was cooperative learning. I was in charge of professional learning in my district at that time, and we provided extensive training in cooperative learning. Hundreds of studies provided evidence of its viability and positive impact on student achievement. So why would the district next door be vilified for doing the same thing?
Fast forward about 10 years. I am now in GCISD and working toward providing access to advanced academics for all students. It seemed like a reasonable and prudent thing to do. After all, a rising tide lifts all boats, right? Not in GCISD. The community reaction to our attempts to de-track middle school was swift and vehement. Needless to say, it didn’t happen.
How do these two incidents separated by a decade have anything to do with answering the question of how we got here? The best way I can answer that is by sharing a phone call I had with a parent who was adamantly opposed to providing equity and access to all students. After explaining the rationale for the proposed change, the parent responded with, “I’ve worked hard for my nice house and expensive car. I’ll be damned if my kids will be in class with those (kids).” She was a bit more specific about which kids, but you get the point. She obviously believed that her kids would lose if others were provided the same opportunities to win - classic scarcity mentality.
In her view, we were removing a buffer, a barrier between her kids and those kids. And that was not OK. After all, GCISD was known as a place where you could get a private school education at public school prices. Cooperative learning had the same effect. It put kids of varying ability and achievement levels together in a context in which their success was predicated on interdependence, individual accountability, collaborative skills, group autonomy, maximum peer interactions, and equal opportunity to participate. Admittedly, it takes a skilled teacher to do this well. Otherwise, it becomes group work where a few kids do all the work.
The commonality here is the concern about equity. Misguided people believe equity is a Robin Hood scheme - take from one group to give to another. A current board member even stated in a board meeting that we need to be anti-equity. Equity is about providing for student needs. Recognizing that students have varying needs causes educators to create conditions where all students can achieve at high levels. It’s not about ensuring equal outcomes. It is about leveling the playing field so all have the opportunity to achieve.
There are great examples of equity in action in GCISD. The first thing that comes to mind is ASPIRE Academy. We discovered a larger than usual percentage of students qualifying for GT as well as a number of students considered highly or exceptionally gifted. These students have the opportunity to be served through a special program that meets their unique needs. If we are anti-equity, would we abandon this program? I think we all know the answer to that question.
A culture of privilege has been growing for many years in GCISD, and there are those who will fight to the bitter end to maintain this culture. The difference between 10 or 20 years ago and today is that those battling the district now are more organized and incredibly well-funded. They may still represent a minority, but they have been successful in achieving two spots on the board and creating chaos that has resulted in advocates turning on the district. While this latest incident leaves a stain on the district, a school board with a majority of TTP-backed members will be catastrophic!