COLMESNEIL – The Colmesneil ISD Board of Trustees met on Monday evening to hear a parent grievance in open session.
The level three grievance, which involves taking a complaint to the school board, involved district parents Bo and Wendy Bendy, who lodged a complaint concerning the district’s declination to sign a written stipulation regarding the Bendys’ daughter’s enrollment in an agriculture class.
A level three grievance is the final localized step in the process, according to the Texas Education Agency. Parents seeking a resolution in a matter first must take the grievance to the campus or campus principal (level one), then to the superintendent, or superintendent’s designee (level two) and lastly to the school board, if the previous two options did not suffice.
Bo Bendy, who serves as one of the trustees, was introduced by CISD Board President Eric Lee, and Lee noted that he was there strictly as a parent and co-complainant in the matter with his wife. Lee also noted that Bo Bendy would have no vote in any board decision regarding the complaint.
“We asked for certain stipulations for my children that does not disrupt the classroom or change the curriculum,” Bo Bendy said.
The Bendys had prepared a list of stipulations for their daughter to not be enrolled in a class taught by Gwyn Dunman. Bo Bendy read a list of complaints made by an older daughter who had taken a class from Dunman in the 2017-18 school year. Among those complaints was an allegation that Dunman had not helped with her record book for Future Farmers of America credits, which Bendy said helps students get proficiency awards and degrees.
One of the stipulations was that the Bendys’ daughter would have access to the Texas record book portal, provided by Dunman. Another stipulation was that Dunman was not to sign-off on any ag shows for the student.
“We are simply requesting accommodations based on family’s previous experience. We respectfully ask that our children be treated fairly and be given the same opportunities as every other FFA member,” Bo Bendy said.
The stipulations were initially agreed upon by CISD Superintendent Sharon Toole, he said, however, when the Bendys saw the schedule for the new school year, they discovered that their daughter was enrolled in Dunman’s class.
“Since the first communications of [the Bendys’] concerns, the administration has looked at numerous solutions to resolve the issues brought forward,” Toole said.
Bo Bendy added that he and his wife received communication from the district attorney stating the stipulations would not be signed.
Becky Yates, assistant superintendent, provided a rebuttal to the complaints brought forth by the Bendys. “We were not following TEA requirements or FFA requirements by putting a student in another classroom that’s not being taught those TEKS, but then giving them kind of an independent study.”
Yates also said the Bendys had three options put forth as a solution, including online learning credits through Texas Tech. “As a district...we don’t feel comfortable signing a parent-created document that says you have to do these things.”
Yates said that Dunman, who is the district’s lead ag teacher would likely need to sign-off on paperwork or provide information and support to ag students at CISD.
“We just want to be cautious to support every opportunity the kids have in her class and make sure that the teacher is held accountable for appropriate professionalism,” Yates said.
“These are four simple stipulations that don’t effect anything,” Bo Bendy said.
