A federal investigation has been launched against the Granbury Independent School District according to NBC News, Propublica and The Texas Tribune. The U.S. Education Department's civil rights enforcement arm is looking into claims of discrimination after the removal of books on sexuality and transgender people.
“The Office for Civil Rights can confirm that there is an open investigation into Granbury ISD under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972,” according to a statement Tuesday from the Education Department. “We do not comment on pending investigations.”
Title IX has prohibitions against discriminating on the basis of sex, gender and sexual orientation.
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The investigation, first reported by NBC News, ProPublica and the Texas Tribune, follows a complaint by the American Civil Liberties Union. It appears to be the first based on a nationwide movement pushed by conservatives to ban school library books dealing with sexuality and gender.
“It’s certainly the first investigation I’ve seen by the agency testing that argument in this way,” said W. Scott Lewis, managing partner at TNG, a consulting firm that advises school districts on complying with federal civil rights laws.
A SECRET RECORDING
It all started last January when Granbury ISD Superintendent Jeremy Glenn met with librarians to discuss the move to ban books. A staff member in the meeting secretly recorded the conversation.
"Granbury is a very, very conservative community and our board is very, very conservative." Glenn was heard saying in the leaked recording obtained and verified by NBC News, ProPublica and the Texas Tribune. "If it's not what you believe you better hide it because it ain't changing in Granbury."
The superintendent said 14-year-old girls would not be picking up books in school libraries about sex.
"Let's call it what it is, and I'm cutting to the chase on this, it's the transgender, LGBTQ and the sex - sexuality in books. That's what the governor has said he will prosecute people for, and that's what we're pulling out," he said at one point during the closed-door meeting.
He also brought up transgendered people in the recording.
"There are two genders. There's male, and there's female. And I acknowledge that there are men that think they're women. And there are women that think they're men. And again, I don't have any issues with what people want to believe, but there's no place for it in our libraries," he said.
FEDERAL INVESTIGATION COULD HAVE LARGER IMPLICATIONS
Granbury Independent School District Superintendent Jeremy Glenn did not immediately return messages to The Associated Press on Tuesday for comment about the investigation.
NBC 5 also reached out but Granbury ISD is on holiday break right now. Earlier this year said they "support students of all backgrounds" but that "the values of our community will always be reflected in our schools."
If the district is found to be violating discrimination laws, it would likely lead to lawsuits and would impact all school districts that have enacted similar book bans.
The district has about 7,500 students on 10 campuses about 60 miles southwest of Dallas.
Mike Hixenbaugh of NBC News and Jeremy Schwartz of ProPublica/The Texas Tribune originally reported much of the material in this article
