On Tuesday, SBISD submitted a decision from a hearing related to this petition. The district asserted that Principal Goodman’s response to The Breakaways was “appropriate” and refused to take any action against her.

In its statement, the district continued to cling to explanations about policy and process that insulate its employees from any accountability. But, once again, the issue here is not about a policy or how closely it was followed. The core issue is about Goodman and whether she can be trusted to discern what is appropriate or inappropriate for young students.

This sort of stonewalling has been consistent throughout the investigation. Other administrators have also obfuscated the issue by clinging to policy. They have refused to acknowledge related issues like Goodman blocking parent volunteers’ access to the library, and they have failed to follow up on questions from parents. One administrator advised a parent to “call your congressman; that’s the way you get things changed.” Such a comment exacerbates concerns that the district has little interest in genuinely engaging parents and working to resolve its root problems.

Regarding Goodman’s comments to parents in phone calls (described previously in this petition), the district apparently disagrees with the parents’ characterization. The district does not view the comments as a defense of the book’s appropriateness. The district asserted that “[i]t is not Mrs. Goodman’s role to prejudge the outcome of the reconsideration process.”

This is merely another attempt to insulate Goodman from being held accountable. As principal, her judgment of appropriateness is always relevant. It still is, especially in light of this investigation. But Goodman has refused to disclose her judgment of the book’s appropriateness throughout the investigation. She refused to speak at the hearing (even though parents were originally told she would speak). And the district remains uninterested in hearing and assessing her judgment.

It seems this is not the first time Wilchester, under Goodman’s leadership, has exposed young students to inappropriate content. E.g., last year, a book author spoke (virtually) to PreK-2nd Grade students at Wilchester about his homosexuality and other age-inappropriate content.

Nor is this the only example of the district obfuscating how students are getting exposed to inappropriate content. Just last week, in Superintendent Blaine’s email to all district parents, she failed to mention that a pornographic book in school libraries was also included in multiple curated summer reading lists for pre-high-school students. Again, Blaine’s focus in the email was about addressing “process.” She made no mention of addressing the root problems – i.e., teachers' decisions to include the book on their summer reading lists.

This petition began with distrust in one school principal. But it is becoming apparent that the problems are more systemic across SBISD.