Student “S.I.C.K.” Day at Leander Independent School District

Parents in the Leander ISD school district will be keeping their children out of school on Wednesday, April 28th in protest. For the past 9 months, parents have been asking for district changes. A community grassroots effort has called for a S.I.C.K. day which is an acronym for Stop Indoctrinating our Children K-12. The community has three requests from the district:

• WE EXPECT NEUTRAL CLASSROOMS FOCUSED ON CORE ACADEMICS
• WE EXPECT A TEACHER CODE OF ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY, AND ENFORCEMENT OF THIS POLICY
• WE EXPECT A CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT POLICY IN ORDER TO RESPECT PARENTAL RIGHTS, PROVIDE TRANSPARENCY, AND UPHOLD ACADEMIC STANDARDS

Much of the newly adopted reading material is written way below grade level (example: Seniors assigned texts at elementary reading levels) and contain graphic violence, rape, sex, pedophilia, minors abusing drugs and alcohol, foul language, and negative stereotypes. These books were read during class time among peers in “book club circles”, with little to no teacher engagement.

At the April 8th, 2021 School Board Meeting, teachers publicly testified that the district curriculum director instructed teachers to not personally read the books before passing them out to students. Teachers also publicly stated that the books which LISD says were “removed” due to content, still currently sit on classroom shelves and are also available through the student digital library.

After many months, Superintendent Bruce Gearing finally acknowledged during the March 25th, 2021 School Board Meeting that inappropriate materials had been put into children’s hands. The district has made no initiative to address explicit materials in other instructional units or grade levels.