Open Letter to Arlington ISD Taxpayers
An update from 12-8-25 follows the 12-12-24 letter.
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@outlook.com (817) 991-7153
AISD – UNLAWFUL DISMISSAL OF GRIEVANCES 12-8-25
During the period from October 2023 through March 2024, David Jarvis filed six grievances with the Arlington Independent School District (AISD) in Arlington, TX.
In his first grievance filed on 10-30-23, Jarvis asked AISD to identify administrators who can provide information about what training or instruction AISD provides to teachers or students in the following areas: abortion, race relations, same sex attraction, gender identity/gender confusion, used of preferred pronouns, gender transitioning, AISD policy on use of female restrooms and locker rooms by biological males who now self-identify as females, and the range of counseling services AISD offers to students with questions about same sex attraction and/or transgender issues. AISD refused to provide the requested information.
In his 11-28-23 grievance, Jarvis asked AISD to identify any moral training or instruction AISD provides to students and asked AISD to identify any policies adopted by AISD which inform parents about current Texas parental rights laws, to include: “Parents have both the right and duty to direct the moral and religious training of the child.” Texas Family Code, Section 151.001(a)(1). It is self-evident that parents cannot exercise their parental rights under Texas law to direct the moral and religious training of their child if AISD conceals from parents any information about what type of moral training or instruction AISD is providing to their students.
The Texas Family Code, Section 11.1511(b)(13) requires that every school district in Texas shall “by rule, adopt a process thought which…members of the public…. may obtain a hearing from the district administrators and the Board regarding a complaint.”
On 3-27-24, Jarvis attended a recorded Level 3 grievance hearing with AISD Superintendent Dr. Mark Smith. During that hearing, Jarvis told Smith that Jarvis knew the Board would deny all his pending grievances. Jarvis also told Smith that Jarvis intended to use the Board’s wrongful denials of his grievances by attempting to hold the Board accountable to voters at the next Board election (May 2024).
On 4-11-24, AISD dismissed four of Jarvis’s six grievances. On 4-19-24, AISD dismissed the final two of Jarvis’s grievances. These six dismissals were in direct violation of TFC Section 11.1511 listed above. Moreover, the current AISD Public Complaint (Grievance) Policy does not allow the dismissal of any timely filed grievance. All six dismissed grievances were timely filed.
These six dismissed grievances were part of a federal lawsuit. On 4-16-25, the trial judge issued an order stating that Texas Family Code, Section 11.1511(b)(13) “…does not require that the process strictly forbid the board from dismissing the grievances before a (Board) hearing. Thus, a grievant is not ‘entitled to a hearing’ as Plaintiff’s characterize the statute. “ In Jarvis’s view, this holding nullifies this state law and circumvents the clear legislative intent of Section 11.1511(b)(13). This statutory right is also consistent with the rights of all Texas citizens to redress their grievances under Article I, Section 27 of the Texas Constitution – as well as the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
Note that AISD dismissed these six grievances in April 2024 and the federal court order was not issued until a year later. Shortly after these grievances were dismissed, Jarvis asked AISD to state what legal authority AISD relied upon to dismiss these six grievances in apparent violation of Texas state law. AISD refused to respond to Jarvis’s request that AISD state their legal basis for these dismissals – thus demonstrating AISD lacked any good faith legal basis to dismiss these six grievances. However, the April 2024 unlawful dismissals served a short-term political benefit to the AISD Board by protecting the Board from any risk of voter accountability in the May 2024 and May 2025 board elections.
I plan to request that appropriate members of the Texas Legislature who have the responsibility to provide oversight to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to request that TEA investigate AISD’s violation of state law. In my view, AISD should be held accountable for these six unlawful dismissals. The Texas Legislature might also need to amend the wording of Section 11.1511(b)(13) to expressly prohibit any Texas school district from dismissing any grievance to deny access to a hearing before the Board.
David Jarvis (817) 991-7153
Arlington, TX djarvis1776@outlook.com