A group of parents is suing Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD for allegedly violating the state open meetings laws ahead of a vote earlier this year to permanently close four schools.
The lawsuit alleges trustees and district officials abandoned community recommendations for their own benefit and discussed a consolidation plan in private as they moved ahead with closing Central, Furneaux and McCoy elementaries and Long Middle School, and redrawing attendance zones.
The board, the group alleges, “through private meetings, secret deliberations, reliance upon reports from unapproved vendor third parties … developed and approved its Campus Consolidation Plan without public oversight, ultimately shattering the Plaintiffs’ trust in the Board’s transparency and governance.”
The lawsuit also alleges the board violated state nepotism laws by hiring or promoting family members into district jobs, further eroding public trust.
The district told KERA News it does not comment on pending litigation.
Candace Valenzuela is a former CFBISD board member and one of 13 parents suing the district. She and her fellow plaintiffs claim the district and board members deliberately concealed information from the public and violated the Texas Open Meetings Act by discussing school closures privately to favor their own deals, ignoring community recommendations.
“The reality was, people on PTA, people who routinely attend or watch board meetings, and elected officials who plan around the community having these schools were completely and totally in the dark about the potential for these closures,” Valenzuela said.
The district named the four campuses set for closure in February as it faced a $19 million budget deficit, and voted on the consolidation plan in March. District officials said they considered factors such as space, layout, age and location in determining which campuses to close in an effort to save millions of dollars.
A handful of other North Texas school districts have moved to close schools in recent years, including Irving, Plano and Richardson.
The lawsuit, which names Superintendent Wendy Eldridge and trustees as defendants, asks a judge to grant an injunction blocking the Campus Consolidation Plan and remove Eldridge and five board members from their roles.
“The parents just want to be heard,” said Valenzuela. “And they want to be spoken to like the adults, like the constituents, like the concerned citizens they are. And they haven't felt that way, and we're not seeing it on paper either.”
A judge last week denied the plaintiff’s request for a temporary restraining order in the case.
Earlier this year another parent sued the district, alleging Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD withheld information related to the school closures.
Olla Mokhtar is KERA’s news intern. Got a tip? Email Olla at omokhtar@kera.org.
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