Following an investigation that exposed potential violations of Texas law protecting girls’ sports in Irving Independent School District, the district has now been accused of violating the First Amendment by censoring critics on social media.
Last week, Accuracy in Media (AIM) released a video investigation showing Irving ISD’s Executive Director of Campus Operations Reny Lizardo instructing students on how to circumvent state law regarding boys playing in girls’ sports. The exposé generated widespread backlash, with many Texans voicing their outrage on IISD’s social media account.
“Americans across the country were morally outraged by what has happened in these Texas school districts,” AIM President Adam Guillette told Texas Scorecard. “Many of them took to Twitter and commented on Irving ISD’s Twitter account to explain their outrage, and the district took a very illegal route—blocking accounts and hiding all negative comments about their actions.”
AIM quickly took notice of the censorship.
“We saw it in real-time,” Guillette explained. “We’d see people posting responses to their account, and then we’d watch those posts disappear. Then people began messaging us, saying they were blocked. That’s not legal—courts have ruled repeatedly that governments don’t have the right to silence dissenting views.”
Now, AIM has sent a formal demand letter to Irving ISD’s legal counsel, warning that a lawsuit will be filed if the district does not reverse course and stop censoring criticism. The letter cites legal precedent from Knight First Amendment Institute v. Trump (2019) and Robinson v. Hunt County (2019)—cases that affirmed government entities cannot engage in viewpoint discrimination on public forums, including social media.
“We think it’s incredibly important to hold these out-of-touch radicals accountable,” said Guillette. “It’s abundantly clear that highly paid administrators in Texas school districts think that they are above the law.”
The letter, signed by attorneys representing AIM, was also sent to Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton. The governor had already called for the firing of the administrator following the initial investigation, which resulted in their resignation.
As for whether this problem extends beyond Irving ISD, Guillette warned that similar tactics are being used elsewhere.
“I’ve personally been undercover in over 250 school districts across the country,” he said. “From what I’ve seen, my message to every parent is: If you have your child in traditional public schools, get them out immediately because our public education system, unfortunately, has been hijacked by unaccountable radicals.”
AIM has given Irving ISD until Monday, February 10, to respond before legal action is taken.
A spokesperson for the district told Texas Scorecard they were unaware of the letter, but highlighted their social media guidelines which state:
A district is not required to allow persons to engage in every type of speech when the district establishes a limited public forum; a district may be justified in reserving I forum for certain groups or for the discussion of certain topics. A district shall not discriminate against speech on the basis of viewpoint, and any restriction must be reasonable in light of the purpose served by the forum.
