Prosper Independent School District’s embattled Superintendent Holly Ferguson is continuing to anger parents with her response to a months-long sex abuse cover-up that has shattered the community’s trust in the district.
Now she’s been caught excluding trustee Garrett Linker, the one school board member who has been forthcoming with the public, from an email response to other trustees.
Following Tuesday’s special board meeting that ended in chants of “Fire Holly!,” Ferguson sent an email to families of Rucker Elementary, the school attended by children who rode the bus driven by accused molester Frank Paniagua until his arrest in early May.
Parents were stunned that Ferguson’s first communication with them about the situation was to defend Rucker Principal Marisol Balderas. Rucker mom Aurora Hunter immediately fired off a response to Ferguson, Deputy Superintendent Greg Bradley, and all seven trustees.
Hunter received a reply from Ferguson that seemed directed to the other recipients but did not include Linker:
Mrs. Trotter spoke to this parent.
Dr. Holly Ferguson
Rachel Trotter is the district’s communications director, whom Hunter said called her that evening.
When Hunter noticed what Ferguson had done, she forwarded the messages to Linker.
Linker was sworn in as a Prosper ISD trustee on May 16, after being elected May 7—the same day the family now suing the district reported that Paniagua had repeatedly sexually assaulted their daughters while they were inside the bus at Rucker.
On August 30, Linker publicly stated he didn’t know about the sex abuse case until he saw news reports about the lawsuit filed August 25—just like the moms who have shared their stories.
On September 7, Linker confirmed the community’s suspicions that the “independent investigation” the board announced on August 29 was actually being conducted by the same law firm defending the district in the sex abuse litigation.
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