During a special meeting Wednesday, Pleasant Grove Independent School District's Board of Trustees denied all three appeals of a middle school parent whose daughter's school email account was used to send a photo of the KKK to two black students.
Amanda Bowers, whose daughter logged in her account Feb. 8 for two students, one of which sent the photo, has alleged her daughter's innocence in the matter and stated she was unfairly disciplined, as she was not the one who sent the emails.
Her daughter, Abigail, received three days of out-of-school suspension and seven days of in-school suspension, of which she served five days due to good behavior. Bowers alleged the additional discipline was added on because she began asking questions about the incident, ones that she says administrators refused to answer. On Feb. 20, she also filed complaints with the Texas Education Agency, which has referred her complaint to their Division of Governance and Investigations. She also filed complaints with the American Civil Liberties Union and the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.
A Level 1 hearing was held March 8 and a Level 2 hearing was held March 14 for not only the excessive discipline allegation but to address additional allegations of insufficient and discriminatory district policies and procedures and allegations of discrimination, retaliation and violation of civil rights by members of PGMS, specifically Principal Linda Erie and Assistant Principal Jon Tomberlain. In each hearing, administrators upheld the disciplinary decision and said district policy was followed.
Bowers said she was not happy with the board's decision to deny all three appeals.
"It's a shame the cowards of the board chose to uphold their discriminatory policies and the retaliatory behavior of their staff, but not surprising," she wrote in a statement following Wednesday's meeting. "Abbie did not send the email, nor was she complicit in any way, even according to all evidence shown by the district. Their pitiful intimidation tactics haven't worked so far. I will continue to fight for what's right."
Board President Fred Meisenheimer said the board did not have a comment on Wednesday's meeting.
The Level 3 hearing was originally on the board's April 11 agenda but was removed because the items stated the board would hear only one allegation instead of three. Bowers received notice of the delayed hearing at 4:49 p.m. via email, prior to the 5:30 p.m. meeting. She then spoke during the public comments portion of the meeting. Those statements included items that would have been discussed during the hearing, and Meisenheimer told her those could not be brought before the board except during the hearing. When she persisted, he banged his gavel and the board went into closed session. Bowers continued her statement even though the board had left the room.
The next regular meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Thursday, May 8, in the Central Services, 8500 N. Kings Highway, Texarkana, Texas.