Fact Check Conroe ISD Website & Grassroots Campaign Flyer

Block walking and campaigning is cranking up to full speed ahead, and it's imperative that we get good, easy to digest information into the hands of voters.

Sep 30, 2024

Before we dig into the new website and campaigning, let’s talk about…

Electioneering

State law prohibits school districts from participating in elections. While individuals can, of course, engage in political activities on their own time, the district itself cannot endorse candidates or use its own resources to promote candidates or policies. Furthermore, it is illegal for the district to pressure teachers to vote one way or another. This can occur through official communications, like website posts or flyers, or through indirect methods, such as supervisors encouraging their subordinates to support certain candidates.

Historically, electioneering was common across many school districts across Texas until recently, when our Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton decided to do something about it. Paxton sued several districts for electioneering putting all districts on notice that this behavior would not be tolerated.

Here are a couple of articles discussing electioneering in Texas from my favorite Texas publication, Texas Scorecard:

In Huffman ISD, an administrator reportedly goes as far as to tell who faculty should vote for. Huffman ISD is the Latest School District Caught Potentially Violating Electioneering Laws - Texas Scorecard
Frisco ISD is accused of using district resources to promote certain candidates or political parties: Frisco Independent School District Sued For Illegal Electioneering - Texas Scorecard

According to Section 11.169 of the Education Code, “Notwithstanding any other law, the board of trustees of an independent school district may not use state or local funds or other resources of the district to electioneer for or against any candidate, measure, or political party.”

Blowing the Whistle

If you are a teacher being pressured to vote a certain way or to help candidates, you might consider becoming a whistleblower. Before moving forward, it is important to understand and follow the whistleblower process. I recommend you contact your state representative or state senator and ask for help or resources to protect your rights. Texas has whistleblower protections in place, but it’s essential to follow the correct procedure. While some people navigate this process alone, it may be prudent to consult with a lawyer.

Protection and Support

I recently spoke with a representative with Innovative Teachers of Texas, an organization of teachers for teachers, and I was told they offer legal assistance to members who need whistleblower protection.

Unfortunately, the day this article is published, Monday September 30th, will be the last day to join without a waiting period. To receive immediate protection, teachers will need to join by the end of the business day. Beginning October 1st, there will be a 30-60 day waiting period to join.

If I were in your shoes, I would still go ahead and join, even with the waiting period. Given the current climate, if we don’t win big in November, you may need the support of a reasonable (not left leaning) professional organization. Just being a conservative and/or a Christian while teaching in the public education system could become tricky, even trickier than it is today.

Learn more about this organization on their website: Innovative Teachers of Texas - Home (ittexas.org) Questions? Go ahead and call the number, they answer the phone!

Fact Check Conroe ISD

With misinformation everywhere, it has been difficult to understand what was really going on at the Conroe ISD board meetings. Many voters don’t have time to read my long form articles, so what do we do? When the Republican Party released the “Fact Check Biden” website, I knew that we needed this on a local level. I called some friends, got to brainstorming, and we came up with Conroe ISD Facts, which can be accessed at www.conroeisdfacts.com

The Facts:

SHAC:

On this substack, I was unable to go into the shenanigans that were pulled with the SHAC, but you can get into the details on the new fact check website. First, what is SHAC? The first part of the website, Conroe ISD Facts, is a definitions section. Here is SHAC defined:

The School Health Advisory Council consists of parent, community, and District volunteers and is required by Texas law to be majority parents. From the website: "The School Health Advisory Council (SHAC) was created to assist the district in ensuring that local community values and health issues are reflected in the district’s health and physical education instruction." Texas law requires every School District to have a School Health Advisory Council (SHAC) and CISD has had a SHAC for 15+ years. Find the website for the Conroe ISD SHAC here: School Health Advisory Council – Conroe ISD

Each patch of misinformation that has been propagated by the left and, sadly, our local media, receives a swift-kick-in-the-butt in a separate link that can be shared independently.

For instance, is there a “toxic relationship” between the board and SHAC?

Trustees Williams and Hubert repeatedly spoke disrespectfully about SHAC and its parent leadership; however, they both openly admitted they had never watched or attended a meeting. As long-time board members, it is hard to believe that they did not seek to understand what was going on and instead listened to hearsay. Not one time did Trustee Williams, Trustee Hubert, or Trustee Wagaman reach out to SHAC leadership to ask questions to seek to better understand the “toxic” relationship.

There are eight additional facts about SHAC that give the misinformation/lies a swift-kick-in-the-butt. Each fact is written in short form with its own separate link, making it easy to share individually.

Mental Health

If you were paying attention to the last school board meeting, you noticed there was a lot of drama around a resolution to recognize Suicide Prevention Month, because a question was asked. Yes, that’s right, a simple question for clarification.

Rather than welcoming her questions, Trustee Nelson’s request for clarity was met with hostility. Trustee Datren Williams accused her of not supporting the resolution, even though she had expressed agreement and simply sought clarification. Nelson’s proposal to adjust the wording for transparency was dismissed, and she was belittled for wanting to ensure she knew what she was agreeing to.

More can be read about this nonsense here: Trustees Stacey Chase Datren Williams: Mental Health (conroeisdfacts.com)

There is an additional fact on mental health in regard to SHAC’s work this year that you might find interesting.

Teachers’ Pay?

Teachers are simply not getting the respect they deserve. The responsibility falls on the school district and the school board. More information here:
Trustee Stacey Chase: Blames the State Legislature for Shortfalls (conroeisdfacts.com)

Other topics include funding/shortfall, Title IX, gender identity, books, and the “code of conduct.”

Videos

On the fact check website, below the facts is a video section with interesting video clips, so you can find what you’re looking for more easily and share with friends. Some of the videos are short clips, but many are longer. Some of the full meetings are linked with timestamps for you to find what you are looking for.

The following video, I thought was particularly interesting. We have been told all summer that Conroe ISD has never withheld information from parents about gender transition, but this teacher came in July and shared that she was told to withhold this information from parents in 2021.

Furthermore, if you would like to take a look at the fact: Conroe ISD and Trustee Hubert: Withholding information (conroeisdfacts.com) A parent’s story is shared:

I was recently connected with a parent whose oldest child attended The Woodlands High School Ninth Grade Campus. After her oldest was required by his teacher to use preferred pronouns, she spoke to the principal, who informed her that without a policy, there was nothing she could really do.

This isn’t the only parent who has been told by her child’s school that nothing can be done because there is no policy. Remember, parents of high school students are reluctant to bring concerns to school board meetings.

Another helpful video clip worth highlighting is of Trustee Misty Odenweller explaining what she learned when she researched what was really going on with the AP Books. It turns out that out of 155 books that have ever been on the AP list to be used for the tests, only eight of those books are not approved as instructional materials. Of those eight books, only two of the books are not in the school libraries, but provisions have been made so that any student can have access to those two books with their parent’s permission. Learn more here:

Grassroots Campaign Flyer

In addition to the website, I put together another flyer, similar to what I put together when I was block walking for Commissioner-Elect Ritch Wheeler. The book quotes and bullet points were very effective and easy to digest for voters. I printed copies and kept them in my purse and car to hand out as well.

The new flyer is letter sized for printing on a standard black and white printer. You can download the PDF for sharing digitally or printing here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DSAFO-uC6xZvb_i6KFsvhh30rcHrClZb/view?usp=sharing

I received several requests for a condensed version that will fit all of the above information on half a page. I created a version that can be printed double-sided on a single sheet. I am told that Office Max will cut a stack of pages in half for a dollar. Find that PDF here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zWDLAXyYSMl8mhw_qz_naFI5xGn6eMwi/view?usp=sharing

The QR code will take your friend to a Linktree that has hyperlinks to all the websites on the form, as well as additional websites/ articles.

Getting the Word Out!

Sticker Campaign

Email me, and I will mail you a sticker for your car window!

Email: twomomsandsomebooks@gmail.com

Request a Sign

Fill out this form to request a yard sign:

https://forms.gle/fY8eyx2j7qtdzQ1V9

(You will have the option to add a sticker to be delivered with the sign on this form.)

Hitting the Pavement!

There are many ways you can help in this campaign. Block walking is a great way to help, and I hope you will join us! However, keep in mind your circle of influence. The biggest way we are going to defeat the misinformation is one conversation at a time. We can send a friend a link but sitting down for coffee for a heart to heart is powerful.

We will win this election one conversation at a time.

For more information about block walking email: melissasemmlerforcisd@gmail.com

For more ideas about how to help the candidates join The Force for CISD Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/share/g/ZFanMewoBZc2ncJW/?mibextid=K35XfP

See you there!

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Article written by Michele Nuckolls, homeschool mom who spends a lot of time in the public library with her kids.
email: twomomsandsomebooks@gmail.com