After a federal civil rights investigation was launched against Carroll Independent School District, the Department of Education has reportedly put a pause on the investigation.
In May, four former students filed complaints with the DOE’s Office of Civil Rights alleging that students at Carroll ISD are being discriminated against on the basis of their race and “LGBTQ+” identity.
Earlier this month, Carroll ISD responded to the complaints, stating that the “OCR has refused to provide us written findings to evaluate and will try to enforce any resolution even if found we did nothing wrong.”
Shortly after responding to the DOE’s investigation, Pardis Gheibi—a trial judge with the U.S. Department of Justice—sent a letter to Carroll ISD’s legal counsel saying they have put a pause on the cases.
We are in receipt of Carroll ISD’s August 5, 2024 letter in connection with the proposed Resolution Agreement in OCR Case Nos. 06-21-1300, 06-21-1301, 06-21-1302, and 06-22-1397, advising OCR of its belief that various injunctions pertaining to Title IX apply to at least one of these cases. OCR has paused these cases while it assesses the effect that the injunctions have on them.
Carroll ISD Board of Trustees President Cam Bryan told Texas Scorecard that the district is happy the DOE decided to put a pause on the four cases.
“We are pleased the Department of Justice reviewed our response to the DOE’s Office of Civil Rights proposed Resolution Agreement, in connection to four complaints levied against the district, and determined a pause to all four cases was necessary,” said Bryan.
“During the 90-day timeframe the district was given to respond to OCR, we repeatedly requested them to provide their factual findings with us so that we could, in good faith, evaluate to determine the best course of action for our district and community. They refused in every instance,” he continued.
