North Texas isn’t new to these bigoted complaints and districts other than Granbury have also come under the federal government’s radar. Over the past year, the Office for Civil Rights has opened five investigations into reports of discrimination in the Carroll Independent School District in Southlake, a district that has fought over how issues like sexuality, racism, and gender are taught in schools.
The book removals and complaints have taken their toll on marginalized students. Lou Whiting, a nonbinary student at Granbury High School who has organized protests in the past, said that they felt unsafe at school, but the federal investigation brings hope: “It’s just really good to hear that there are people who are listening to us and actually doing something about it. It means a lot to hear that our efforts meant something.”
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