Austin News

A parent in the Eanes Independent School District has filed a lawsuit alleging that the superintendent and board members violated the Texas Open Meetings Act by secretly hiring a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) consultant. 

The lawsuit was brought forward by Christie Oates and alleges that "parents were intentionally left in the dark" when Superintendent Tom Leonard hired DEI consultant Mark Gooden in 2020. The lawsuit states that the district's negotiations with Gooden, as well as the topics of critical race theory (CRT) and DEI, should have been brought to parents' attention, according to KXAN.

A DEI consultant is charged with reviewing an organization's current state of diversity, helping the organization set goals, presenting ways to achieve those goals, and then providing evaluations and assessments, according to Human Rights Careers.

Diversity consultants are paid an average salary of $83,892, according to GlassDoor.

Oates' lawyer, Andy Taylor, issued a statement saying the lawsuit is intended to "hold the school board and superintendent accountable for their illegal actions," according to KXAN.

CRT teaches students that social institutions are embedded in racial laws, regulations, and procedures that may lead to each race receiving different outcomes. For example, the criminal justice system, education system, housing market, etc., according to the Brookings Institution.

"Sociologists and other scholars have long noted that racism can exist without racists," The Brookings Institution states. "However, many Americans are not able to separate their individual identity as an American from the social institutions that govern us — these people perceive themselves as the system. Consequently, they interpret calling social institutions racist as calling them racist personally."

Gubernatorial candidate Don Huffines opposes allowing CRT to be taught in schools. If elected, Huffines says he will eradicate CRT from Texas classrooms and prohibit the use of CRT-based racial training in state agencies, according to Huffines' website.

“So-called ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion' is only CRT by a different name," Huffines said in a press release published on his website. "Parents have a right to choose what their children are taught in public school, and it is unacceptable for a school to try and hide the hiring of a diversity consultant. As governor, I will totally ban racist, Marxist ideologies such as CRT from our Texas public schools.”