This article is co-published with ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. The story was also produced in partnership with NBC News.
The U.S. Education Department鈥檚 civil rights enforcement arm has launched an investigation into a North Texas school district whose superintendent was secretly recorded ordering librarians to remove LGBTQ-themed library books.
Education and legal experts say the federal probe of the Granbury Independent School District 鈥� which stemmed from a complaint by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and reporting by , and 鈥� appears to be the first such investigation explicitly tied to the nationwide movement to ban school library books dealing with sexuality and gender.
The Education Department鈥檚 Office for Civil Rights notified Granbury school officials on Dec. 6 that it had opened the investigation following by the ACLU, which accused the district of violating that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender. The ACLU complaint was based largely on an investigation that revealed that Granbury鈥檚 superintendent, Jeremy Glenn, instructed librarians to remove books dealing with sexual orientation and people who are transgender.
鈥淚 acknowledge that there are men that think they鈥檙e women and there are women that think they鈥檙e men,鈥� Glenn told librarians in January, according to a leaked recording of the meeting obtained, verified and published exclusively by the news outlets. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have any issues with what people want to believe, but there鈥檚 no place for it in our libraries.鈥�
Later in the meeting, Glenn clarified that he was specifically focused on removing books geared toward queer students: 鈥淚t鈥檚 the transgender, LGBTQ and the sex 鈥� sexuality 鈥� in books,鈥� he said, according to the recording.
The comments, combined with the district鈥檚 subsequent decision to remove dozens of library books pending a review, fostered a 鈥減ervasively hostile鈥� environment for LGBTQ students, the ACLU wrote in its complaint. Chloe Kempf, an ACLU attorney, said the Education Department鈥檚 decision to open the investigation into Granbury ISD signals that the agency is concerned about what she described as 鈥渁 wave鈥� of anti-LGBTQ policies and book removals nationally.
鈥淚n this case it was made very clear, because the superintendent kind of said the quiet part out loud,鈥� Kempf said in an interview. 鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty clear that that kind of motivation is animating a lot of these policies nationwide.鈥�
An Education Department spokesperson confirmed the investigation and said it was related to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits schools from discriminating on the basis of sex, gender and sexual orientation. The Office for Civil Rights doesn鈥檛 comment on pending investigations, the spokesperson said.
If the investigation confirms violations of students鈥� rights in Granbury schools, the agency can require the district to make policy changes and submit to federal monitoring.
Neither Glenn nor the district responded to messages Monday. In following the news outlets鈥� reporting in March, the district said it was committed to supporting students of all backgrounds. And the district said that its primary focus is educating students but that 鈥渢he values of our community will always be reflected in our schools.鈥�
Granbury, a town 40 miles west of Fort Worth, has been embroiled in a heated debate over what types of books children should be allowed to read at school.
Last year, voters in Granbury who campaigned against LGBTQ-affirming school curricula and library books. Afterward, Glenn began asking district administrators about several books that an unnamed school board member had found in the district鈥檚 online catalog, according to text messages reviewed by NBC News, ProPublica and The Tribune. The messages from the board member to Glenn included screenshots of eight titles, all of which dealt with LGBTQ topics, with the words 鈥済ay,鈥� 鈥渢rans鈥� and 鈥済ender鈥� highlighted in some of the book descriptions.
In January, when Glenn met with librarians, he told them that the new school board was 鈥渧ery, very conservative鈥� and that any employee who holds different political views had 鈥渂etter hide it,鈥� according to the recording of his comments. In the days that followed, the district embarked on one of the largest mass book removals in the state, pulling 130 titles, most of which featured LGBTQ characters or themes.
After a volunteer review committee all but a few of the titles, two disgruntled members of the committee in May accusing district employees of providing 鈥減ornography鈥� to children, triggering a monthslong criminal investigation by Hood County Constable Chad Jordan, which remained open as of August. Jordan didn鈥檛 respond to messages requesting an update on the investigation.
All of that 鈥� including the fact that Glenn has never apologized or walked back his comments 鈥� has created an unwelcoming environment for LGBTQ students in the Granbury district, the ACLU argued in its complaint.
鈥淭hese comments, combined with the book removals, really send a message to LGBTQ students in the districts that: 鈥榊ou don鈥檛 belong here. Your existence is shameful. It should be censored,鈥欌�� Kempf said.
In recent months, Granbury parents and voters have to remove books with LGBTQ themes or descriptions of sex. Last month, Karen Lowery, one of the women who sought criminal charges against Granbury librarians, won a seat on the school board; she has vowed to purge books that she has deemed inappropriate for children. Of the nearly 80 titles conservative activists want banned, 3 out of 5 feature LGBTQ characters or themes, according to an analysis of books posted on , a website where they have compiled parent reviews.
Lowery didn鈥檛 respond to messages requesting comment.
At her first meeting as a school board trustee on Dec. 12 鈥� one week after the Office for Civil Rights notified the district it had opened an investigation 鈥� Lowery called for all 鈥渙bscene鈥� books to be pulled from shelves. In response, Glenn asked her to provide a list of titles so the board could discuss it at a future meeting.
"I think as a district, we do want to resolve this," Glenn said of the library book controversy. "Speaking on behalf of every administrator in the room, and probably community members because I know there are a few of you that are ready to have this behind you, too."
Education and legal experts said the Education Department鈥檚 decision to open an investigation in Granbury is significant because it sets up a test of a somewhat novel legal argument by the ACLU: the idea that book removals themselves can create a hostile environment for certain classes of students.
鈥淚t鈥檚 certainly the first investigation I鈥檝e seen by the agency testing that argument in this way,鈥� said W. Scott Lewis, a managing partner at TNG, a consulting firm that advises school districts on complying with federal civil rights laws.
The ACLU of Texas made similar legal arguments in filed last month against the Keller Independent School District in North Texas in response to a policy banning any books that mention 鈥済ender fluidity.鈥� The Education Department has yet to decide whether to open an investigation in Keller, Kempf said.
Jonathan Friedman, the director of free expression and education at the nonprofit PEN America, which has since last year, said the same legal argument could be made in districts across the country where parents, school board members and administrators have expressed anti-LGBTQ motivations.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not uncommon to see people explicitly saying that they want to remove LGBTQ books because they believe they are indoctrinating students,鈥� said Friedman, who cited a case in Florida in which a teacher called for the removal of a children鈥檚 picture book about two male penguins because, she said, it promoted the 鈥�.鈥�
Granbury isn鈥檛 the only North Texas school district facing federal scrutiny.
The Office for Civil Rights over the past year has opened into allegations of discrimination at the Carroll Independent School District in Southlake, a wealthy Fort Worth suburb that has been of the national political fight over the ways schools address racism, gender and sexuality. If the Education Department finds Carroll students鈥� rights have been violated, experts said, the federal agency the district to implement the same types of diversity and inclusion training programs that conservative activists have fought to block in Southlake.
Carroll Superintendent Lane Ledbetter has said the district has taken steps, including retraining staff members in how to handle bullying complaints, to ensure students from all backgrounds feel safe at school.
鈥淚f OCR determines that there are steps that we can take beyond what we have implemented, then we will absolutely comply,鈥� Ledbetter said in a video address to the community after news of the federal civil rights investigation broke last year. 鈥淢y priorities are kids, and we鈥檙e going to keep them safe.鈥�
As in Southlake, some students and parents in Granbury say they鈥檙e counting on federal investigators to force changes.
Lou Whiting, 17, a nonbinary senior at Granbury High School, said Glenn鈥檚 recorded comments made them feel unsafe and unwelcome at school. Whiting, who helped organize student protests of the book removals, cried when they learned that the federal government had opened an investigation.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just really good to hear that there are people who are listening to us and actually doing something about it,鈥� Whiting said. 鈥淚t means a lot to hear that our efforts meant something.鈥�
