Latest news with #IrvingISD
Fox News
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Dallas schools to crack down on trans athletes in girls' sports after video of official revealing 'loopholes'
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office announced Friday that the Dallas Independent School District ("ISD") has agreed to an order to ensure the district is not violating state law by allowing trans athletes to compete in girls' sports. The agreement comes after Paxton requested records from Dallas ISD in February following the release of a video that showed a school district official explaining loopholes to a parent and how they could get their biologically male child on a girls' sports team via an altered birth certificate. The video, which was made by an undercover journalist from the outlet Accuracy in Media, showed a Dallas ISD LGBTQ youth coordinator saying that Texas had not made a distinction between providing either an original or updated birth certificate for school sport gender eligibility. "Always refining, you know? They find the loopholes in everything," the advisor said in the video. "I tell people all the time, I will go to jail for saving their child's life," the advisor continued. "I guess no conservative kids come out gay." Later in January, a school official from the Irving ISD was seen telling an undercover journalist about the same loophole in another Accuracy in Media video. "Could you legally change the gender on a birth certificate? I don't know enough about that subject," the Irving ISD official was seen saying in the video. "If you can get that done, and you turn us a birth certificate that says 'this gender,' that's the gender we go with." Paxton then requested an extensive list of documents from Dallas ISD and Irving ISD on Feb. 6. On March 31, Paxton filed a legal petition to conduct depositions of key Dallas ISD officials to ensure that the District is not violating Texas law by permitting biological males to participate in girls' sports. Now, Paxton has come to an agreement with the Dallas ISD to ensure that such loopholes won't be exploited. "I urge all other school districts to fulfill their legal obligations to protect girls' sports and end any attempts to circumvent Texas law. Biological males have no place in girls' sports, and any Texas public schools doing otherwise will be held accountable," Paxton said in a statement. In June 2023, Texas passed the Save Women's Sports Act, which bans trans athletes from competing in girls' and women's sports, and only allows students to compete in the gender category listed on their birth certificate. The law only allows schools to recognize changes made to birth certificates that were made to correct a clerical error. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
CBS News
31-03-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Texas AG Ken Paxton presses Dallas ISD over alleged trans athlete law violations
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has formally requested to question officials with the Dallas Independent School District as part of an investigation into whether the district is violating state law by allowing transgender teen athletes to compete in girls' sports — and possibly encouraging students to change their birth certificates to do so. In February Paxton requested an extensive list of documents from both DISD and Irving ISD after district officials were allegedly filmed, separately, telling parents that trans students could play in women's sports if the parents changed their birth certificates to "female." The AG's office argues that DISD's LGBT Youth Program Coordinator Mahoganie Gaston was filmed telling a parent that a trans student would be allowed to participate in girls' sports if the parent changed the birth certificate of their son to "female." The office also alleges she said that the district "find[s] the loopholes in everything" and that she is willing to go to jail for defying Texas law. Irving ISD's Executive Director of Campus Operations Reny Lizardo was filmed informing a parent that a trans student could play in women's sports if the parents changed the student's birth certificate to "female," the AG's office claims. Paxton deposed Dallas ISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde , LGBT Youth Program Coordinator Mahoganie Gaston and the members of the Board of Trustees. "School districts must follow the law, keep our children safe, and end these insane 'gender theory' policies that ignore reality and encourage illegal actions. ISD officials who have participated in this madness will be held accountable," Paxton said. "The systematic effort by Dallas ISD officials to circumvent Texas law will be exposed and stopped." Paxton has also demanded documents from Hutto and Richardson ISDs for allegedly violating state law by allowing trans athletes to participate in girls' sports. CBS News Texas has reached out to Dallas ISD for comment and is waiting for a response. In October 2021, Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill into law that banned trans women and girls in K-12 schools from participating in sports teams aligned with their gender identities. It forces athletes to compete on teams on the basis of their "biological sex," or the sex that was "correctly stated" on their birth certificate, according to the text of the legislation . He signed the Save Women's Sports Act into law in June 2023 which bans trans athletes from participating in collegiate sports teams that match their gender identities. The bill included provisions that prevent trans athletes who have had their sex changed on their birth certificates from participating in sports teams aligned with their gender identities by defining sex as what was "entered on or near the time of the student's birth," and only recognizes changes made to birth certificates that were done to correct a clerical error.
CBS News
05-03-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
Classes canceled at 3 Irving ISD schools due to storm-induced power outages
Three Irving Independent School District schools have canceled classes due to power outages caused by storms early Tuesday morning. Hanes Elementary, de Zavala Middle School and Cardwell Career Preparatory Center will not hold classes on Wednesday, Irving ISD said in a Facebook post. All other Irving ISD schools will open and operate as normal. The district anticipates that operations at all Irving ISD campuses will resume on Thursday. Strong to severe storms moved through North Texas on Tuesday morning, producing large hail and damaging winds that caused widespread damage. During the severe weather event, many residents experienced power outages, with the peak number reaching over 335,000, according to Oncor. Oncor serves 4,070,983 customers. As of Wednesday at 5:52 a.m., 6,629 outages had affected 70,188 customers. Dallas County reports the highest number of outages with 22,519. In a restoration notice posted on its website Tuesday evening, Oncor said employees have continued to assess damage, repair equipment and restore power to impacted customers. The company estimates that restoration will be substantially complete by Thursday night if weather allows. However, restoration is expected to continue into Friday in the hardest-hit areas — including Irving, McKinney, Farmers Branch and certain pockets within the northern DFW region.
Fox News
29-01-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
School official appears to advise parents of trans athletes to change birth certificate to play girls sports
A school district administrator in Texas was seen encouraging parents to make false changes to their child's birth certificate so they would qualify to play in girls' sports as a biological male, according to a recently released video. The footage shows a man, allegedly Reny Lizardo, who serves as the executive director of campus operations for the Irving Independent School District, telling an undercover journalist that "It's not illegal if you don't get caught" in regard to doctoring a child's birth certificate to undermine Texas state law that prevents trans athletes from competing in girls' sports. "Could you legally change the gender on a birth certificate? I don't know enough about that subject," he says, according to video obtained by Accuracy in Media. "If you can get that done, and you turn us a birth certificate that says 'this gender,' that's the gender we go with." When asked if a hypothetical trans athlete had the gender on a birth certificate changed to female and would be able to then play on the girls' soccer team, the man allegedly identified as Lizardo responds, "Yeah." He also says the school district could plead plausible deniability if the athlete's birth gender was uncovered and prompted a lawsuit. "If a parent found out or a student found out and said, 'Wait a second. This person isn't this gender,' and they, like, sued the district, we'd be in trouble. But, we can also say, 'We didn't know' ... So, there's a plausible deniability, I guess," he is seen saying before suggesting their conversation not be spoken about again. "Me and you never had this conversation." In June 2023, Texas passed the Save Women's Sports Act that bans trans athletes from competing in girls' and women's sports, and only allows students to compete in the gender category listed on their birth certificate. The law only allows schools to recognize changes made to birth certificates that were made to correct a clerical error. Texas is one of 25 states in the U.S. to have a law in place to prevent or restrict trans athletes from competing against girls and women, and a national bill is currently making its way through Congress. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott addressed the footage involving Lizardo in a post on X, and called for him to be fired and criminally investigated. "This Irving ISD Administrator should be fired on the spot. Both criminal & civil investigations must be taken against both the Administrator & Irving ISD," Abbott wrote. "Has Irving ISD and its employees been involved in a fraudulent breach of state laws & a cover up? We must get the facts." Fox News Digital has reached out to the Irving Independent School District for comment. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act on Jan. 14, which would cut federal funding for any public educational institution that allows trans athletes to compete against girls and women in sports. Every Republican representative voted in favor of the bill, but only two Democrats, Reps. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, and Vicente Gonzales, D-Texas, voted to pass it. The remaining 206 House Democrats all voted against. Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C., voted "present." A recent New York Times/Ipsos survey found the vast majority of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, don't think transgender athletes should be permitted to compete in women's sports. Of the 2,128 people polled, 79% said biological males who identify as women should not be allowed to participate in women's sports. Of the 1,025 people who identified as Democrat or leaning Democrat, 67% said transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete with women. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
