Open Letter to Arlington ISD Taxpayers

Open letter to Arlington ISD Taxpayers 12-12-24

David Jarvis

I am a retired attorney who investigated and prosecuted criminal fraud schemes for over 34 years with the United States Attorney Offices in both Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. The first step in any investigation was to ask questions to discover the true facts - since I first had to find the truth before I could determine what (if any) wrongdoing had occurred. In the summer of 2022, I used the same approach (first seek the true facts) in my interactions with AISD administrators and the Arlington Board of Trustees (the Board).

The Texas Family Code, Section 151.001(a)(1) states that a parent of a child has “both the right and duty to direct the moral and religious training of the child.” Section 151.003 further states “…a state agency may not …. take any other action that violates the fundamental right and duty of a parent to direct the upbringing of the parent’s child.”

Both the Bible, state law and common sense support the belief that the parents alone (not AISD) have the responsibility for the moral and religious training of their children. The main reason I filed my first AISD written grievance in Nov 2022 was to find out to what extent AISD teachers were providing any form of moral guidance to AISD students - in violation of the above-referenced Texas law. To determine what (if any) moral guidance AISD was providing to students, I asked AISD what guidance (if any) AISD provided to teachers on how teachers should answer the following questions from a student: 1) I am transgender. I’ m a boy, but I think I’m really a girl. What should I do? 2) I am transgender. I’ m a girl, but I think I’m really a boy. What should I do? 3) I think I am same sex attracted. What should I do? 4) I am a biological male, but I since I identify as a girl, I want to use the girl’s restroom – is that okay? or 5) Does AISD policy require teachers to notify parents about any of the above conversations between AISD teachers and students?

When these questions finally reached a Level 4 Board hearing on 6-8-23 – the Board closed the Board hearing to the public and forced all parents and taxpayers to leave the room. I told the Board that I objected to this unlawful closure as a violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act. When the Board falsely claimed that my grievance involved “personnel matters” and thus required a closed meeting – I pointed out that these issues involved the conduct (not identity) of AISD employees. To show my good faith - I also agreed not to identify any AISD employees by my name during any open hearing. The Board overruled my objection and closed the hearing to the public. After the closed hearing was conducted, the Board unanimously denied all four of my consolidated grievances.

Based on this unlawful closure of the 6-8-23 Board hearing, a lawsuit was filed in Texas state court on 1-19-24 by co-plaintiffs Citizens Defending Freedom and David Jarvis. A lawsuit was needed to hold the Board fully accountable for their unlawful closure of the 6-8-23 Board hearing and is still pending (now in federal court) despite my efforts to resolve the matter through settlement.

On 4-11-24, AISD Superintendent Matt Smith unlawfully dismissed four additional grievances I filed. These dismissed grievances related to my efforts to seek information regarding various issues, including – (1) what training and instruction AISD provides to teachers and students about abortion, race relations, same sex attraction, gender identity or transgender issues? (2) does AISD inform parents that AISD provides such training to students? (3) does AISD inform parents that Texas state law gives parents the “fundamental right to direct the moral and religious training of their children”? and (4) does AISD believe they have any obligation or responsibility to provide moral training or instruction to AISD students? Rather than provide this information, AISD has continued to hide the truth from taxpayers and parents – and resisted my ability to obtain answers to these questions.

On 4-19-24, AISD administrator Scott Kahl dismissed two additional pending Jarvis grievances. One of these two grievances asked AISD to provide information about the scope and conduct of AISD student counseling services provided to students related abortion, racial equity, same sex attraction and gender identity generally. The AISD Public Complaint Policy does not allow AISD to dismiss any complaint (grievance) that was timely filed. All six of my dismissed grievances were timely filed.

The Texas Education Code, Section 11.1511(b)(13) states: “The board shall: by rule, adopt a process through which district personnel, students or the parents or guardians of students, and members of the public may obtain a hearing from the district administrators and the board regarding a complaint.” The Board’s dismissal of these six grievances denied my right under state law to obtain a Board hearing on each of these six grievances (many involved the same sensitive moral issues). Such unlawful dismissals were used to shield the Board from political accountability to voters at the next Board election for their wrongful denial of valid grievances.

On 9-13-24, Plaintiff’s Second Amended Complaint of the same lawsuit was filed to include additional claims against AISD based on their retaliatory and unlawful actions. That case is set for trial on 9-15-25.

For the past 2 + years, the Board has consistently refused to be transparent – knowing that transparency leads to truth, and truth leads to future accountability to voters. My goal is to inform religious and community leaders that AISD has repeatedly resisted providing the truth to parents and voters and has engaged in a pattern of lawless conduct (as detailed above). I am available to speak with parents/taxpayers and community groups to answer any of your questions. I urge people with integrity and conviction to step up and run for a position on the Board. 2-14-25 is the filing deadline for the 5-3-25 school board election. Why should we trust present Board members with our vote on May 3 – when they have a history of refusing to trust parents and taxpayers with the truth?

David Jarvis djarvis1776@icloud.com (817) 991-7153