Two school board members in the state of Texas are facing grand jury charges after they privately discussed advancing Critical Race Theory and other far-left ideas in their district, in violation of a state law on meetings of governmental bodies, as reported by The Daily Wire.
The two suspects are Michelle Moore and Todd Carlton, the president and vice president, respectively, of the Carroll Independent School District (CISD). They exchanged private text messages between each other discussing the district’s “Cultural Competence Action Plan.” This was ultimately determined to be in violation of a law in Texas known as the Open Meetings Act (OMA).
The OMA dictates that the school board, among other government entities such as councils, is to hold all of its meetings in public. As such, the substantial correspondence between the two on a critical matter relating directly to the school district’s policy was ultimately determined to qualify as a meeting held in private, in violation of the law.
CISD had previously attempted to implement conditions recommended by a report from a “District Diversity Council” in August of last year. The report, among other things, suggested hiring a “Director of Equity and Inclusion,” “embedding diversity and inclusion training for students as an ‘enrollment to graduation’ process in all grades,” and spending over $425,000 on “racial training,” including approximately $35,000 to bring speakers to school. A judge in December ultimately issued a restraining order halting the district’s efforts to implement these plans.
The lawsuit that ultimately led to the restraining order, as well as the indictment of the two school board members, were the result of parents in the district organizing in opposition to Critical Race Theory. In addition to the formal legal suits against the district, at least one parent has also filed a civil suit.
A violation of the Open Meetings Act is a misdemeanor charge, which can amount to a $500 fine and up to six months in jail if found guilty.