UPDATED December 10 with a statement from Plano ISD.
Plano Independent School District is being sued for failing to disclose information about known mold hazards in its schools.
Plaintiff Shannon Ayres filed a petition for a writ of mandamus—a court order compelling a governmental body to perform a legal duty—on December 5, after Plano ISD failed to respond to a public information request for nearly two months.
State law requires governmental bodies to respond in writing to public information requests within 10 business days.
“This is a straightforward Public Information Act mandamus suit,” Ayres’ petition reads. “On October 8, 2025, Plaintiff submitted a written request for records concerning mold hazards in Plano ISD schools. PISD has provided no written response whatsoever in the ensuing fifty-plus days—no documents, no cost estimate, no clarification request, and no Attorney-General opinion request.”
Following Plano ISD’s failure to respond to her October 8 request, Ayres filed a complaint with the Texas Attorney General’s Open Records Division on November 13, then contacted the district again on November 26, but still received no response.
Ayres is the Texas education director for the grassroots advocacy group Citizens Defending Freedom USA. The Collin County mom has been an outspoken advocate for parental rights at school board meetings across the state and in the Texas Legislature.
“As part of our mission to enforce accountability and transparency for the benefit of the general public, we filed a mandamus to force Plano ISD to meet their statutory requirements under the Public Information Act,” Ayres told Texas Scorecard. “There’s obviously a lot of public interest in this issue, and the citizens deserve answers.”
“No school district gets to completely ignore a citizen’s request for public information that they are entitled to, and Plano ISD is no exception,” she added.
Ayres’ petition asked the court to compel Plano ISD to provide the requested records no later than 10 business days after a court order, and requested an expedited hearing because “children and staff continue to attend PISD facilities with documented mold issues.”
A statement from Plano ISD’s Chief Communications Officer Lesley Range-Stanton indicated that the district “did not receive the original public information request because it was quarantined by Microsoft Outlook’s security protocols.”
The district also did not receive any acknowledgment from the Office of the Attorney General regarding a complaint related to that request. Plano ISD only became aware of the request through the mandamus filing we received on December 9, 2025. The district is now in receipt of the request and it is currently being processed.
“Plano ISD consistently complies with the Texas Public Information Act and will continue to do so,” the statement concluded. “If a requestor does not receive the district’s standard confirmation email, we encourage them to follow up using our online platform or by emailing openrecords@pisd.edu.”
Moldy Murphy Middle School
At the start of the school year, students and staff at Murphy Middle School complained of visible mold, bad smells, and possible mold-related health issues.
On October 6, Plano ISD closed Murphy for “enhanced” mold mitigation—less than two weeks after telling concerned families the school posed “no health concerns” related to mold.
The district then spent two weeks, including the week of Fall Break that followed the unexpected campus closure, tackling the mold and moisture problems at Murphy: replacing carpet, cleaning HVAC ductwork, resealing windows, disinfecting surfaces, and repairing roof leaks.
During that time, parents also spotted remediation crews at two other Plano ISD middle schools, Renner and Schimelpfenig.
Plano ISD mom Meghan Vecchio was one of the first to publicly raise concerns about the mold issues at Murphy, where her child attended school. Vecchio told Texas Scorecard that she and others have made multiple open records requests about mold, mold remediation, and mold test reports.
The district has sent all of the requests to the AG’s office for review.
“These are items that were paid for with our tax dollars, but the district refuses to release the records,” said Vecchio. “The district has put parents in the position of having to hire attorneys to attempt to get records that should be readily available.”
“Parents should have the right to know what was in the mold test results that caused the Murphy Middle School building to close,” she added. “Parents should also have a right to know that the building was, as declared, safe after cleanup. We should be able to see these documents for ourselves.”
Ongoing Issues
New problems arose at Murphy Middle School in November, when a roof leak caused more water damage inside the building.
During a school board meeting Tuesday night, Plano ISD trustees voted to spend $594,500 to replace flooring at the middle school.
In addition to ongoing maintenance issues and potential health hazards inside Murphy, Plano ISD is also under federal and state investigations for its alleged failure to address antisemitic behavior by students and staff.
Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn met with Plano ISD families over the weekend to talk about antisemitic incidents and how Jewish students are being treated in the district’s schools.
Many in Plano ISD are also still fuming about trustees’ 5-2 vote in August to limit public comments at board meetings to agenda items only.
Concerned families can contact Plano ISD trustees or administrators.
