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Between the trips to Mar-a-Lago and a mounting campaign for the United States Senate, it’s hard to imagine where Texas Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton finds the time to do his job.
Nonetheless, over the last few months, the AG has launched multiple investigations into several school districts, many of which are in North Texas, that he believes are violating state law by promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), allowing transgender students to participate in sports and other possible violations. The probing has been spurred on by the social media videos of a conservative watchdog group called Accuracy in Media.
As previously reported by the Observer, Accuracy in Media goes undercover into meetings with school district officials and, armed with a hidden camera, asks leading questions about the district’s curriculum or policy on transgender athletes to try and catch educators in a “Gotcha” moment.
Though Accuracy in Media has been causing a ruckus across North Texas for a few years now, it seems Texas leaders have just started taking notice. After the group published a video from Irving ISD that appears to show a district official coaching a purported potential parent on options for their soccer-playing transgender daughter, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called for the official’s firing.
A week later, Paxton launched an investigation into the district.
Accuracy in Media President Adam Guillette claims on social media that a school voucher system is needed in Texas in order to prevent the kinds of indoctrination his videos claim to expose. Some district officials are now pointing to the suspicious timing of Paxton’s investigations, which align with a school voucher bill making its way through the Texas Legislature.
Dallas ISD is Being Deposed
In February, Paxton announced a probe into Dallas ISD following the publication of an Accuracy in Media video that showed DISD LGBT Youth Program Coordinator Mahoganie Gaston discussing potential ways for transgender students to participate in their school’s sports programs.The attorney general accused Dallas ISD of following “an unwritten policy” that allows students to participate in sports teams that differ from the gender on that student's birth certificate. State law requires students to participate on the team of their birth gender, and last year, Texas banned trans people from changing the gender listed on their birth certificate.
On March 31, Paxton filed a legal petition that calls for Dallas ISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde, Gaston and the district’s trustees to give depositions on the matter. In a news release, Paxton said the legal procedure will aim to expose the “systemic effort” of the district to promote “insane ‘gender theory’ policies that ignore reality and encourage illegal actions.”
In a statement, Dallas ISD said the district will cooperate with the summons and "provide information that confirms Dallas ISD’s ongoing compliance with federal and state laws.”
“I am confident the District has not circumvented any law and this board will remain committed to keeping our focus on educating the students of Dallas,” DISD Board President Joe Carreón said in a statement given to the Dallas Morning News.
On Friday morning, Paxton released a statement announcing his office had reached an agreement with Dallas ISD "to ensure that the District is not violating Texas law by permitting biological males to participate in girls’ sports."
Coppell ISD is Being Combative
An Accuracy in Media video published in February of 2023 has inspired an investigation into Coppell ISD. The video shows an educator discussing the district’s science curriculum.Evan Whitfield, Coppell ISD’s director of science, was recorded telling Accuracy in Media President Adam Guillette, who is posing as a prospective parent, that the district is “doing the right thing” by teaching a curriculum that aligns with the national Next Generation Science Standards. Texas is one of only six states whose state curriculum does not align with NGSS.
Paxton announced a lawsuit against Coppell ISD last month and accused the district of “illegally teaching critical race theory.” Critical race theory, a teaching framework that explores the relationship between systemic racism and the laws, policies and culture shaping modern America, was outlawed in Texas in 2021.
But Coppell ISD is fighting back. In court documents published earlier this month, the district accused Accuracy in Media’s video of being “heavily edited and manipulated so to be grossly misleading."
"Notably, the petition does not allege a single verified instance where CISD has previously taught CRT, is currently teaching CRT, or is about to teach CRT," the complaint states. "The only basis for the Attorney General’s lawsuit is the re-posted, over two years old, heavily edited video created by Accuracy in Media."
The filing accuses Paxton of timing his investigation with the conservative push to get school vouchers through the Texas Legislature and calls for the case to be thrown out.
Richardson ISD is Being Reviewed
In February, Paxton demanded officials at Richardson ISD turn over documents related to the district’s policies on transgender participation in sports.The probe was inspired by an Accuracy in Media video that appears to show Angie Lee, Richardson ISD’s executive director of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, discussing how the district would handle an overnight school trip if a transgender student were present. In a letter sent to the district, Paxton accuses district leaders of knowingly circumventing the law and instructs the district to turn over documentation related to the district’s athletic program policies and guidance on overnight trips.
“I look forward to thoroughly reviewing all documents to determine if these comments are reflective of a systematic, district-wide effort to ignore the law and allow boys to play in girls’ sports,” Paxton said in a statement. “If they are, I can fully assure you that those liable will face justice.”
At the same time Paxton announced his review of Richardson ISD, he also launched an Accuracy in Media-inspired investigation into Hutto ISD, which is North of Austin.
Irving ISD is Being Inspected
In January, an Irving ISD administrator resigned from the district after Accuracy in Media published yet another video centered on district policies for transgender student-athletes. Reny Lizardo, the district’s executive director of Campus Operations, was filmed coaching an undercover Accuracy in Media operative on how to change her daughter’s birth certificate gender before the family’s planned move to Texas.Abbott posted the video to X, and called for Lizardo to be “fired on the spot.”
Paxton announced the investigation into the Irving district on the same day he launched the Dallas ISD probe. While Lizardo had already resigned by that point, Paxton wrote in a letter to the district of his concern that “[Lizardo’s] advice may reflect an unstated policy” of Irving ISD.
In a statement to the Observer, Irving ISD said Lizardo’s statements were “obtained under false pretenses” and that because AIM did not identify itself as a media organization, the district considers the interview to “constitute a breach of security.” Nonetheless, Irving ISD follows all state laws, the district added. The matter remains under investigation.
