COLMESNEIL – The Colmesneil ISD Board of Trustees ruled on a level three grievance that was filed by parents in the district.
The CISD board deliberated in closed session to make the determination, which sided with the parents, Bo and Wendy Bendy. The Bendys provided a list of stipulations to the district, first to the high school campus principal, involving their daughter’s enrollment in an agriculture class taught by Gwyn Dunman.
Both Bo and Wendy Bendy said they were satisfied with the outcome.
“The biggest thing was the record book,” Bo Bendy said. “We didn’t want anything getting messed up with that record book.”
In a memo regarding the decision from CISD, the grievance appeal was filed on August 14, and later reviewed by the board of trustees in closed session prior to its September regular business meeting. Bo Bendy serves as a trustee on the board, and prior to the hearing during which the Bendys provided testimony, CISD board president Eric Lee clarified that he was coming before the board as a parent and had no vote in any determination regarding the decision.
The level three grievance, which involves taking a complaint to the school board. The Bendys had first taken the complaint to the principal, Tanner Shepherd, then to CISD Superintendent Sharon Tule.
A level three grievance is the final localized step in the process, according to the Texas Education Agency.
The board decided “to the greatest extent possible” to adhere to the Bendys’ stipulations, which include them, as parents, providing transportation to any FFA activity or event; that the teacher may not enter the Bendy’s residence and that she also not make any amendments or changes to the student’s record book.
