Parents among protesters at heated Plainview ISD meeting

PLAINVIEW — There was one business item on the agenda for Plainview's regular May school board meeting, but that wasn't why throngs of parents, community members and protesters showed up to the boardroom Thursday night.

Most were there to express their outrage with Plainview Independent School District and Superintendent H.T. Sanchez for the district's handling of a mid-April sexual incident in a first-grade classroom at South Elementary School.

More: Plainview parents seek answers after alleged sexual assault at elementary school

During the April 19 incident, a first grader at Plainview South Elementary reportedly performed a sexual act on another first grader while a teacher was in the room. The event was recorded on a school-owned iPad and later discovered by school personnel, district officials previously said.

Family members of one of the students involved allege the 6-year-old girl was assaulted and forced to perform the sexual act on a boy, while the district said in a later statement "a sexual assault did not occur" and called the incident "mutual inappropriate sexual contact."

Family members of students in the classroom also claim administrators did not properly communicate with parents after the incident, which the district denies.

Thursday evening, protesters — including a handful from out of town — gathered about an hour before the meeting to rally in the parking lot before delivering public comments inside. A heavy police presence at the administration complex remained throughout the protest and meeting.

The meeting convened just after 6 p.m. Board members and administration immediately recessed to a closed executive session.

After board members returned from the 30-minute executive session, Vice President Amber Bass read a prepared statement, further defending the district's response to the "unsettling situation" and suggesting a community committee would consider policy changes, though she didn't give specifics.

"The Plainview ISD Board of Trustees and superintendent send their deepest regrets to the parents and guardians of all the students involved," Bass read. "We remain steadfast to offer counseling and support to help families move forward."

In an open letter Wednesday, Sanchez said the district was considering prohibiting the use of outside devices by younger students, revising disciplinary procedures, increasing counseling resources and expanding community collaboration.

After Bass read the statement, the board opened the podium for public comments, giving each pre-registered speaker one minute to comment. Board President Adam Soto told citizens "we will pull you out of this room if you are disrespectful or unruly."

Three speakers were escorted out the back door of the building by Plainview ISD police for exceeding the one-minute time limit.

Esther Zepeda, who identified herself as a family member of one of the children, spoke out through tears.

"I do not think this could be sexual mutual consent with two children! My granddaughter would not even know what that would be," she said. "The way the situation was handled was inappropriate, wrong, disgusting.

"And you sir," she continued, addressing Sanchez. "Misinformation from the beginning until the end. It was wrong, but you can get away with it. … You would be fighting if it was any one of your kids. But you're not fighting because it's not your child."

Zepeda was escorted out by district police.

"You, the board, should all be ashamed," said Heather Gonzales, another family member of an involved child. "No accountability has been taken. It was far past the time that we let weak men like you be the protector of our children," she said, addressing Sanchez directly.

Gonzales was also removed from the boardroom by police.

Sanchez, though present at the dais, did not speak during the meeting.

Landon Hughey, who said he has a daughter at South Elementary, called for calm and suggested the outrage has gotten out of hand.

"The way that this incident at South Elementary has grown out of proportion is not only embarrassing, but dangerous. It is unfair and inappropriate to make heinous allegations on social media, especially while an investigation is already ongoing," he said. "But in a world where the facts can be boring, sensationalism sells. Fake news and misinformation spreads fast, and it spreads even faster when one party is unable to comment due to an ongoing investigation.

"To the angry parents: I understand where you're coming from. But I don't understand where you're going. We all care about our children's safety and wellbeing at school," he continued. "Sure, we can make personnel changes, but that's not a real solution because the root of this issue extends well beyond our schools. I know this: I trust that my child, my first-grade daughter who attends South Elementary, is safe."

More: Plainview ISD states 'sexual assault did not occur' at South Elementary

Parents speak out against the school board, call for change

"Be their voice! Be their voice! Be their voice!"

These three words were repeated by more than 150 men, women and children in attendance at the meeting.

For most, like Nadine Rodriguez, the words were a show of strength when the board limited their time for public comment.

"We're asking our children to be safe inside a school. It's ridiculous that's not even the bare minimum for them," she said after the meeting. "It's clear that they tried to silence all of our voices. They cut us from three minutes to one and gave us some bull-crap excuse as to why they did."

As a mother, Rodriguez said it was appalling the family had to go through this for the public to pay attention to student safety in the classroom.

"How many are going to become victims inside a classroom — how many more?" she said angrily to the crowd of protesters.

"Speak up! Be loud!" Rodriguez said. "These kids (are) so little that you can't hear them. They're so small they don't even know what it means. Speak up!"

Many during the pre-meeting and post-meeting protests called for the resignation of not only the superintendent, but also the whole board.

Sanchez's contract runs through 2027. An item on April's agenda to extend the contract for an additional year was tabled.

Some members of the public went as far as to call the board cowards as they left after the meeting for declining to take that item from the table Thursday.

Gonzales said the letters she brought to the meeting are from parents and teachers that detailed other accounts of incidents in the same classroom and the same school. She said she was frustrated the board limited her voice.

As one of the family members of the victim, Gonzales wants people to be advocates and to make their voices heard by the school board.

But most of all, she wants people to pray.

"Just pray for all of us," she said. "Pray for our town. Pray for our cops. Pray for everyone on the school board — just pray that people will stop doing these evil things."

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Parents among protesters at heated Plainview ISD meeting