Wimberley ISD Board of Trustees Special Meeting - May 20, 2020

001I'm going to go ahead and call this meeting to order it's 607 and I am looking around and I've determined that we do have a forum here this evening and welcome everybody who's with us here tonight live and also virtually and we're going to go ahead and move down to item number one on our special meeting agenda which is our public comment for them and in this instance those public comments have been submitted previously and those are going to be read into the record now thank you good evening I'm Alan Bergman I'm the communications officer for Wimberly ISD we have 32 public comments that were submitted I do want to note that any time an instance of a board member's name or a school district employees name is mentioned we're going to tweak those for

002the for the red portion of this board members will be referred to as official and employees will be referred to just as employee I'll start off by reading the name as submitted and then followed by the comment number one was and these are going to be read in the order that they were submitted number one is from Chris Ellis the school logo should be used for school purposes and only school purposes any other group or groups need to develop their own logo and make it their own that is why logos are copyrighted so you can make them your own leave the school district logo to serve its purpose for Wimberly ISD other groups need to spend a little money and copyright their own logo for their specific purpose the Wimberly ISD logo needs to be

003left alone and not changed number two is will Frances representing the National Association of Social Workers Texas chapter the National Association of Social Workers Texas chapter strongly supports inclusivity in the education setting and believes that extends to LGBTQ students staff and parents LGBTQ youth are at a greater risk to be bullied have identified more mental health issues related to environments that are not supportive and are at greater risk of suicide for these and many other reasons schools need to welcome these students and no one should be punished or reprimanded for both affirming the identity of these youth and showing that they're our allies and safe spaces for them to turn to we hope that the board puts in place policies and staff development that will provide a better understanding for how to engage with LGBTQ

004youth and help them as they develop and grow in their schools and communities number three Darren K Missouri it is my opinion that the Wimberly WT flag logo should not be altered in any way in my line of business I serve many schools including Wimberly ISD you know all cases the school's logos are protected to be used in the manner in which they were designed the Wimberly flag logo is no different it should be in the school colors and not modified the proportions and colors of the logo should remain the same for example I can't print the Hutto hippo in camo or maroon ink or glitter gold it is only to be printed in burnt orange and white I totally understand that all students parents and community members see this logo with a sense of

005pride and that lends itself as being something groups would like to use an altar but the logo was developed for the school the school's activities and organizations and for students and faculty as well as community it is integral that it represents the school and event for the school and graduating class or a year if my son is going to college and he asked me to print the WT logo in his college school colors on a t-shirt for example black and gold I can't do that I take pride in what this logo means to our district what it has meant to my kids who've all played sports and participated in great events for the school and it needs to remain with the school intact and not altered Texan pride thank you number four is Kathleen Healy

006it is time for logo gate to end the district has wasted more than enough time and expense in the pursuit of the oppression of our LGBTQ students the board should understand that official simply acted in joyful support of this marginalized oppressed community she posted the picture of the altered logo and the ACLU became involved because the district simply would not let it go it is time to let it go and get on with supporting all students employees staff teachers counselors and board members of this district number five Anna Wynn my name is Anna Wynn I live in Austin Texas as you go about your official business today please think about what you will tell your children and grandchildren now and years from now what you did when the time came to make a stand for

007inclusiveness for compassion for how much we have in common what will you tell them about what you did when the time came to make a stand against exploitation of small differences that make us individuals to make a stand against efforts to drive the community apart to make a stand against hate and bigotry what will you tell your children and grandchildren number six Sean and Christina Stover our strong belief based on decades of community and corporate involvement is that logos are central to the identity of any group or indoor organization in the case of a school district the logo is crucial to the identity of the school its faculty its administration and its students no group agenda or individual should be allowed to alter or use the logo in any way whether a Christian organization local

008business public cause or inclusive agenda no one should be able to alter or modify the existing school logo for their benefit again we clearly understand and believe that the Wimberly Texan logo is established and is not changeable number seven Heiko sting Thank You members of the WISD Board of Trustees to hear my public comment when the unnecessary controversy about the Wimberly text and logo started back in September of 2019 my immediate reaction was that it would have been best if WISD had had the foresight and courage and had endorsed Wimberly first annual Pride March as a public expression of support for all the students without exceptions but this had not happened the second best option would have been to retro actively support the event but this did not happen either instead our entire community got

009entangled in a prolonged and painful conflict based on an insincere and unfounded complaint about the use of the Wimberly text and logo a highly regarded member of the board of trustees was made the target of a divisive and exclusionary agenda the homophobic motivations of the grievance filed last fall became clear through the involvement of quote Texas values an organization an outside organization known for such divisive tactics as a taxpayer I am highly concerned about these events and the financial toll it took on WISD as a father of three young children who are or will all attend WISD schools over the next decade I'm especially worried by attempts to undermine the well-being of all children and to weaken our rights of free speech and the separation of church and state the WISD community should be able

010to make fair use of the logo without the fear of a lawsuit although I have never used the logo in any form myself I call for the retraction of employees threat of legal action against those who have used the logo for non-commercial purposes under the First Amendment protections of free speech thank you number eight is lidia Brasher I'm writing in support of the WISD School Board preserving the Wimberly texan logo and protecting / defending it from being altered by any person business club group or otherwise as a former marketing and brand professional and really just as a person who lives in the world i honestly cannot believe this is still a topic the school board is having to address next number nine is patricia krob the way in which this logo Fiasco was handled by

011the WISD has turned back the curtain on the lack of fairness and transparency by the WISD and shown a blatant disregard and discrimination towards the LGBTQ people in the WISD as well as in our community after the stunning response by the district on their displeasure of the logo barring the LGBTQ rainbow and the entire follow up of targeting and harassment to many in the community that received letters about using the logo an apology is in order from the WISD to those people I continue to see the logo displayed with religious symbols with unborn babies in the womb and yet it is a rainbow that has caused the WISD distress the LGBTQ community is a living breathing human group of valued people that should be given the respect and consideration by WISD stop your shameful behavior

012welcome and acknowledge the parents teachers and students that represent our LGBTQ community apologize and be accepting to all no matter what their color religion or sexual orientation is stop the discrimination now please thank you for your consideration with this request ten Sherry Skaggs I would like to express our support for protection of the Wimberly Texan district logo no individual or group should have the ability to change or modify the district logo number eleven mashaa Davis as adults in the school district it is our privilege but also our duty to be examples to our children they are the future of the district of the county of the state of the country of the world what we instill in them today will one day have consequences far beyond our school district they will be our legacy to

013the district and well beyond please instill in them values that will make them positive tolerant and compassionate citizens thank you number 12 Jared Robinson WISD board I'm writing about the issues surrounding the WISD logo discussion and it's unauthorized use I want to be very clear that my stance on this issue is only about the unauthorized logo use it doesn't matter to me who used what it was used for or for what reason it was used the only fact I have is it was unauthorized use previously I was involved with a nonprofit organization located in Wimberley that asked for permission to use the current WISD logo that request was denied by WISD and we chose a different logo to be used for our organization which was drawn by a former WISD student we were disappointed we

014cannot use the current logo but we're happy with the product we received from this former student fast forward to current times you now have use of the logo without permission or consent I believe that this situation could have been avoided with a simple phone call or email to WISD that appears it was not done but rather taken upon a group were individual to use the logo or its image without permission or consent as I did many years ago I requested its use was denied the permission to use the logo and decided on an alternate no issues were created and no feelings were hurt by simple emails and calls that were exchanged it was in a similar situation a request to use the Houston Texans logo has been denied more than I could count I also

015understand the current logo has been authorized to use by local businesses the key word and that is authorized they requested the use of the logo and were given permission for whatever reason that permission was given is there irrelevant but the fact is they requested and were given permission to use the current logo in my opinion again this situation could have been avoided by simple communication requesting use if that request was denied and in turn not use we would not be here today discussing this issue 13 Laci Thames I believe the Wimberly texans logo should not be allowed to be altered in any way by any club group or organization the Texan logo alone represents the district's desire to foster a culture of kindness and respect there is no need for it to be altered for

016any specific groups 14 Tina cannon the First Amendment protects people's right to express their views including online and at public events like a pride march government entities cannot chill their speech retaliate against them or discriminate based on the content of their speech 15 Matt Meeks dear board of trustees I'm writing this to show support for the current WT logo the logo is our brand and represents all of what Texan pride is about the logo doesn't discriminate it is a symbol of what we as Wimberly Texans represent as a whole it is not limited to athletics academics band theatre color of skin religion etc it unites us all that live in this community and has kept us strong in our darkest hours as well as in our greatest of achievements I would like us all to

017take a step back and think about how much we have grown together through these last few months and if we have learned anything it should be we are all in this together the logo is our brand and should be a symbol of unity and help us continue to achieve excellence in all aspects changing the logo in my opinion is dividing the great spirit that so many of my fellow classmates have worked so hard to build please work together and if you need a common ground you shouldn't have to look much further than WT logo thank you all for what you do for our kids in this community Matt Meeks Wimberly ISD graduate class of 98 16 Marisa Baylor I realize the board has no choice but to review the now level three agreements regarding the

018rain logo here we are in a time of Kovac crisis and those who hate continue to show their lack of support for the LGBTQ community most importantly the youth of our community stop this stop wasting the board's time the community's money and your own energy with equality Texas and ACLU close by you will not succeed with your goals you will not punish families or students I would say you won't win here but there is no win there is either support for a community or there's not there's a cherry-picking of the rules when it offends you the whole world is watching us the world that is more accepting of the LGBTQ community than ever more kids and families supportive of choosing love there is only a show of love or a show of hate 17 is

019Robert Salcedo jr. from equality Texas hello board of trustees and Wimberly is the administration my name is Robert Salcedo community outreach and engagement manager at equality Texas as written in our letter to employee and the Board of Trustees dated February 10th 2020 creating supportive and affirming environments in our schools that allow all children including LGBTQ students to focus on learning and academic success rather than bullying and their sense of safety is our collective goal as the leading LGBTQ advocacy organization in Texas we are concerned about the message Wimberly students have received we would like to once again offer our organization equality Texas as a positive resource for Wimberly ISD and help bring forward LGBTQ inclusive policies and staff development we urge wasd to consider a meeting with equality Texas to discuss how we can collectively

020work together to make the school district safer and more affirming for your LGBTQ students and the parents who support their LGBTQ children I can be reached at Robert Salcido at equality Texas org in community Robert salcedo jr. 18 is kate sittin I write today is a concerned citizen to ask you close and settle any and all legal suits grievances and or disciplinary actions concerning the use in altering of the WISD logo for release Pride Parade in 2019 whether intentional or not your response to board member official wearing a shirt with the WISD logo with a rainbow flag sent the message to our LGBTQ children that they are quote less than and are not supported by the district in fact your language and the initial letter to parents stated as much when employee wrote quote it

021would suggest to the viewer that WISD endorses the group's activities as we all now know the initial complaint was brought by an individual who herself was using and altering the logos of international organizations to sell for her personal business again what message does this send to our LGBTQ students when a person who believes it's okay for herself to alter a logo without permission files a complaint when a rainbow is added to the district logo as part of a celebration of Gay Pride any suit against a person who alters or displays the logo for an event such as the Pride Parade is frivolous according to the US Copyright Office quote fair use is a legal doctrine that promotes freedom of expression by permitting the unlicensed use of copyright protected works in certain circumstances section 107 of

022the Copyright Act provides the statutory framework for determining whether something is a fair use and identifies certain types of uses such as criticism comment news reporting teaching scholarship and research as examples of activities that may qualify as fair use close quote I believe it is time that the district stop its efforts to infringe on the First Amendment rights of individuals and bring this issue to rest proof that you support our LGBTQ students and that WISD truly is no place for hate number 19 Lisa weeks the WT logo is a representation of the Wimberly Texan school system and is the logo associated with all activities involving the entire Wimberly school system should not be used by any other specific group for any purposes or altered in any way the use of this logo by different groups

023would cause as would cause an association that is not endorsed by the school or is not a representation of the WISD it is my opinion it should remain strictly as a school logo regardless if it is something I support or something I do not I have had two boys graduate from WHS and now a daughter entering as a freshman we as a family have always been proud to wear the WT in support of our school we have had people all over recognize the logo and make some sort of comment about the Wimberly Texans it would be a shame to represent anything other than the Wimberley Texas number 20 is Jeff Burk we the alumni of this school are here to object to those special interest groups who would randomly change the image identity logo flag

024or name of our school the school belongs to all the people through all the years of its existence not just the small insignificant who took a unilateral action to change the identity of hundreds of thousands who identify with this school we will use all legal force at our disposal to enforce our rights to keep our school logo from being taken over by people who themselves have identity issues 21 Cynthia Malone Z on December 19 2020 a quote notice from the superintendent of schools close quote via email issued by employee although the employee states this is not a cease and desist letter it in fact is and the document threatens further legal action against me if I post a texan logo with the rainbow overlay on social media or in print to say i was surprised

025by the email would be an understatement but i took the threat issued by the employee seriously and immediately scheduled becomes counsel with a copyright / trademark attorney as an individual who works in the arts I take copyright matter seriously and as such I have studied copyright law although not an attorney I am more aware than many of copyright infringement my assessment that I was not in violation of the law was confirmed by the attorney I consulted my posting of the logo to my social media page for a few days during Pride was a show of support for not only the lgbtqia+ community to which I belong but also display of love acceptance tolerance and unity for the entire community the fact that the employee spent paid time scouring social media to see who posted the

026logo is egregious I'm not a parent and my social media page is not public so employees efforts towards me took some significant effort I have many friends who also showed support on their social media pages in the same manner and they did not receive the letter additionally I sent a public records request to the district about the email that was sent and their response was let us just say less than responsive and transparent they've gone to great lengths to keep from disclosing who received that because correspondence issued by employee we could go around and around about the logo but I will refrain and I will leave the legal wrangling to the lawyers I would point out there were no issues with any other use of the logo until the rainbow version and no copyright or

027trademark to infringe upon what this situation has done for me personally is uncover a higher degree of discrimination in my community that I had previously thought but more importantly the level of discrimination at the higher levels in the school district I'm an adult I can handle it most of the time but the impact to our youth is much more important to me it is clear to me that some of the members of this board whether consciously or not have brought personal biases to the table and the subsequent actions of this body over the logo are merely the demonstration of those biases my heart breaks many of our youth live in fear daily and it is clear why there is a culture in the district that perpetuates and permeates a fear of those who are different

028I heard our courageous youth who had the intestinal fortitude to finally come speak at a board meeting their courage in the face of intolerance was inspirational our youth should not be afraid to come to school this is not a way to live learn grow and thrive it is your job to provide a safe conducive learning environment even if we do not agree on things our ability to demonstrate a better way to work through differences is how leaders set the example the district leadership should be setting a better example I request that the legal actions threatened against me and others be dropped I also request that the employee issue a formal apology specifically to the LGBTQIA community and their allies and then it be clearly posted to the front page of the WISD website for a

029minimum of six months I have personally offered my support to the school district to be part of an advisory group or committee that could help work on some of the seemingly sensitive or challenging issues a I've not been contacted for such support my offer is and remain standing together we can accomplish anything with dignity and respect for each other thank you for your time sincerely cynthia malone z22 is Doug Warren eight years ago I was interested by WASD to lead what I believe is the best athletic department in the best school district in the state of Texas I've tried to do what is in the best interest of the student athletes here at WISD and although I don't always succeed I know that we have put our best foot forward no one in this district

030uses the Texan logo more than me I cannot tell you how many t-shirts jerseys helmets and workout clothes in the past eight years that I've used the Texan logo on through these eight years it has become more than just a logo to me it is a symbol of pride determination and heart our logo is Texan pride this logo distinguishes us from any school in the state and when people see it automatically they think of Wimberly they think of the great schools that we have the outstanding academics that we are known for and the wonderful community that we live in just this past spring I turned down a semi-pro football team that wanted to use our logo on their helmets in a Central Texas semi-pro football league I didn't do this because I didn't believe in

031their cause I did it because it is the Texan logo and it is special this past December in AT&T Stadium I was overcome with emotion when the Wimberly Texans took the field not because of the magnitude of the game but because of the great showing of unity for the Wimberly Texans for that moment our differences were put aside and all of us were together pulling in the same direction that is what this community is about the Texan logo should never be a sign of controversy controversy but rather a sign of pride a sign of great memories and a sign that no matter what our differences we are all Wimberly Texans all of us 23 Heather Carter so much has happened since since September but one thing that has not happened regarding the Texan Pride logo

032is closure well we have been waiting for is for WISD to admit it made a mistake and that this mistake has caused harm in our community and created fear among our students and families involved hindsight is indeed 20/20 look back and what could have happened I realized how much time energy and public funds we have collectively lost due to a few people's intolerance of the rainbow flag here's what could have happened one WISD could have followed in the supportive and inclusive footsteps of SM is D or a is D and created a rainbow version of its logo themselves to show support for and solidary solidarity with a marginalized group of students to WISD could have after realizing that others had created the pride week logo for them embraced the rainbow version and let the students

033and families that wanted to wear it proudly just wear it three WISD could have looked into its policy regarding the use of the logo and made sure it was not being discriminatory about its use before releasing releasing the first email blasts threatening and misrepresenting the district's control and ownership of the logo for after realizing their mistake in not doing number three the district could have apologized and can acknowledge the fair use aspect of the pride logo and not double down on their message of intolerance by continuing to send threatening letters to those that shared the logo online the district further violated the First Amendment rights of those displaying it 5 the unnecessary escalations made by the district or the reason we are here today an open records request showed that there were no agreements between

034the district and the Texan carwash or the district and Ace Hardware which are businesses that make money using modified and unmodified versions of the district logo WISD could have at the very beginning realized they had no precedent to claim ownership or control of usage rights of this logo unfortunately WISD spent and is still spending public dollars defending its position to be selective and discriminatory regarding the singular the use of the logo I sincerely hope that today marks the end of this black mark on the district let's put an end to the threats let's hear an apology for the district's missteps and let's see the district take responsibility and be a good model for our kids of what it takes to admit you're wrong and make it right we are a hashtag No place for hate

035we are supportive of our LGBTQ students and Families we want students to have the same rights as our staff in WISD discrimination policy and we want the district to acknowledge and allow the use of the rainbow version of the logo during Pride week as the symbol of solidarity and support for this marginalized group thank you for your time and service 24 is Rebecca mark a Human Rights Campaign dear employee and board of trustees the Human Rights Campaign HRC America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian gay bisexual transgender and queer LGBTQ equality thanks you for the opportunities to submit comments in support of efforts to advocate for LGBTQ inclusive school district policies and practices because youth spend the majority of their time at school school district policies and students experiences at school have a

036critical impact on the health and well-being of young people fostering safe and inclusive learning environments for all students including LGBTQ students helps give every pupil an equal chance to reach their full potential and succeed sadly LGBTQ students are disproportionately the target of bullying and discrimination according to recent research by HRC and the University of Connecticut only 26% of LGBTQ youth report that they always feel safe in the classroom and only 13% report hearing positive messages about being LGBTQ in school moreover according to the 2017 national school Climate Survey over 87 percent of LGBTQ students report experiencing harassment or assault at school because of their personal characteristics these alarming statistics demand immediate action we urge you to redirect your resources to the development and implementation of LGBTQ inclusive school district policies and practices every student deserves

037to learn in a space in a safe and accepting school environment and ensuring that all students including those who identify as LGBTQ have enough equal opportunity to succeed is the best investment we can make in our future sincerely Rebecca mark a HRC Texas State Director 25 Lindsay derringer WISD board members thank you for allowing us to speak even though we are not able to attend the meeting I appreciate all that you do for our children especially now during these uncertain times our shared care for our students is why I'm writing to you now I know you you all care about our students but I think that sometimes it is hard to see perspectives that are different from our own this logo issue has negatively affected our community our students and our propensity for inclusiveness I've

038heard multiple families say that since all this happened they have considered moving away from Wimberly I've been saddened by the way this issue has been handled the LGBTQ community is here to stay and we should welcome then just like we welcome all people not turn away when they request help and inclusion your public mandate is for our whole community not select groups that you identify with I'm quoting the WISD anti harassment statement quote the Wimberly Independent School District prohibits acts of harassment of any kind including harassment based on race color religion gender gender identity gender expression sexual orientation national origin disability or any other conduct prohibited by law including bullying or harassment carried out via electric forms of communication close quote I do not understand why four of you voted to go against matching this

039in our school policy what will it hurt it will not hurt anyone it will only protect the vulnerable my last comment is about the quick way that emails are sent out I think there should be some accountability and a multi-step process involving several levels of people when sending out district-wide emails and messages there have been a few hasty emails that have been sent out it seems without much review I ask that you all reconsider your vote as well as issue a public apology to those who have been affected by this situation as adults it is our responsibility to teach our students how to right or wrong thank you for your time in your service Lindsay derringer WISD parent 26 is David Wayman I'm commenting as a taxpayer to Wimberley ISD school district my wife and

040I attended the Wimberly Pride Parade to show support to the LGBTQ community as allies and we're overjoyed to see so many people rallying around a message of love and acceptance it was a beautiful and joy-filled evening we would like to see a 180-degree response from WASD in the next pride March we would like to see WISD March along with caps to show their support of all students we would also like to see this rainbow Wimberly Texan logo shown on shared on t-shirts flags and banners and proceeds of any sales to go to teacher administrator and student training in empathy bullying tolerance and social-emotional learning WISD should embrace this as a teachable moment and make their school safe and accepting places for all students we believe this is the only action that will right the wrongs

041over this obvious homophobic response that is being covered as a copyright issue please spend taxpayer money on empathy and tolerance training instead of on frivolous lawsuits regarding the copyright of school logos please settle this grievance 27 is Gabi Perez as the day of my from Wimberly high school nears I can't help but reflect upon all I've learned throughout my four long years sitting in those hallowed halls I will remember all of the beautiful things like how I felt under the massive stadium lights whether it be while leaning my soccer team as a captain or by watching our victorious football team when prestige and accolades for our small town this year I'll remember how amazing it was to learn new and exciting things from teachers I'll never forget and I'll remember all of the fantastic friends

042I've met along the way however this beautiful picture I've painted in my mind of experience so utterly amazing will forever be marred by a school district on a rampage to distance themselves from another version of a homage to Texan pride what should have been a non-issue another innocent expression of Texan pride has shifted my perception of my once revered school district from one of pride to be part of this community to be to one of embarrassment the issue an altered Texan pride logo was not the issue evident by countless alterations present in town which no reprimand was needed but the issue was the correlation between WISD and a pro lgbtqia+ agenda I'm utterly disgusted that WISD would take such unprecedented and drastic measures to protect itself from being associated with the lgbtqia+ community's acceptance employee

043history will not be on your side in fighting this issue it is up to you do the right thing after all you are not the student who has to endure bullying homophobia transphobia and death threats within the WHS walls please do it for them be courageous all of the people that you are attempting to villainize are no different than you they are concerned parents grandparents friends and teachers just like you trying to do right and protect their children it would be diabolical diabolical for you to go forward with this lawsuit could you sleep at night knowing you ruin the lives of folks just trying to stand up for children's lives if you need someone to stop you in the finalization of this lawsuit let it be me Gabriela Perez Wimberly high school graduate class of

0442020 varsity soccer captain top 10% student I want to be proud of my alma mater 28 Armando Perez dear WISD school board members I'm the proud father of a top 10% ranked Wimberly senior class of 2020 level 3 grievance appeal regarding district logo our community needs assurance that this school board is committed to the safety of all children please reconsider your discriminatory practices around the use of the text and logo your post Pride Parade logo policy sends a clear message that WISD does not value all students I would also like clarification on employee statement allowing Christian students to bully harass and threaten members of any marginalized group they feel might threaten their Christian beliefs is this now official school policy quote every single time I would report homophobic bullying I was told by employee it

045was their right as Christians to call me a expletive said Debbie ISD student close quote Thank You Armando 29 is autumn piece hello my name is autumn piece I'm a mother of three WISD students and taxpayer in Wimberley supporting WISD I'm writing this letter in support of my community of Wimberly with a focus on our LGBTQ community mainly our at-risk youth it is truly disheartening that an innocent display of support and solidarity has turned into a situation of hate and shame something our LGBTQ community deals with regularly already a trend we are determined to be rid of for all people the real damage regarding the logo has already been done and there are no real winners in hopes of no such further damage I'm requesting at minimum that employee rescind his previous letter to the

046public regarding the logo and a formal apology issued to official let's do our best let's all support and show kindness and understanding to all walks of life whether we agree with them or not I'm confident this community has the intelligence and generosity to prevail thank you for your time 30 Jolie Templar first I'd like to big thank you to all the wonderful teachers administrators and staff for their caring support and work during the past months they have been great in helping our students and us parents deal with crisis schooling at home it was obvious how much they all truly care about the kids and how they are doing several times teachers reached out and made sure that the kids were doing okay and reminded us parents to relax make sure the kids are emotionally and

047mentally all right and if need be put school off a little obviously they were not saying the kids didn't need to do their work but that they're a mission a mental and emotional health comes first sadly eight months ago the WISD Board missed an opportunity to reflect that same caring for our students since then the opportunity has been missed several more times and made worse by the actions taken by our board when students made shirts with their school logo on it and the rainbow flag behind it it was not done for profit or in malice it was done in pride pride and who they are and or their friends and family our pride in their community pride in their school what was the WISD board reaction a threatening letter about using the logo in this

048manner why they chose to react this way I don't know open records have shown that there was not proper ownership of the logo and businesses that have altered it other four I have altered it other for-profit ways had no contracts and were not threatened with lawsuits this was a fair use logo today will hopefully be the end to this embarrassing fiasco it is negatively impacted our kids cause division among peers and in our community it has wasted thousands of our school districts dollars that should have gone to positive projects in our schools it is time to truly support all of us ask for report cards I give an F for board goals number three foster a culture of kindness and respect F for board goal number five make a positive community impact and an F

049for board goals number six student safety and well-being I know we are better than this and will do better than this I sincerely hope that next year I'll be able to discuss the issue of hair dye instead of having to stand up for children that should automatically be protected and cared for like everyone else thank you for your time and let's be the role models that are needed and stay a hashtag no place for hate 31 is call audio Perez I'm a concerned parent that has become publicly active in the community to assure that social justice and equality has served I've been a taxpayer for Wimberly honesty for almost 15 years my daughters have attended the district for the past eight years many organizations have used the school logo throughout the years I was surprised

050the by the email from employee on September 24 2019 stating the logo policy I was also surprised that he could not share any evidence that other organizations have followed the same logo policy that he was asking for all of us to adhere to after the WISD logo with the rainbow students and teachers in Wimberley ISD need to know that their administration supports them when leaders do not stand for equality and justice that people will have to that is what has happened in the low in the Wimberly community Hays County and quite honestly the world they quote logo gate has gone worldwide I'm speaking for those that can't stand up for themselves for fear of retaliation and aggression from administration and fellow students I highly encourage for WISD to consider participating in next year's Wimberly Pride

051Parade the email sent by employee was not about a t-shirt it was about not standing by the lgbtq+ community that like it or not inhabit the halls of Wimberly ISD in order to truly be a no place for hate school Wimberly ISD should stand by the principles of the ADL and respect and protect all students from hate I can assure you that parents want the best for their kids the number one priority for parents used to be education but unfortunately it has now shifted to a matter of safety what I want is for the safety of the LGBTQ student community equality justice for all and freedom of speech I asked the board to support the kids Claudia Perez 32 Adrian Mount Field hello my name is Adrian mount field I'm the aunt of 3w ISD

052students I'm writing this letter in support of my community of Wimberly with a focus on our LGBTQ community mainly our at-risk youth it is truly disheartening that an innocent display of support and solidarity has turned into a situation of hate and shame something our LGBTQ community deals with regularly already a trend we're determined to be for all people the real damage regarding the logo has already been done and there are no real winners in hopes of no such further damage I'm requesting that minimum that employee rescind his previous letter to the public regarding the logo and a formal apology issued to official let's do our best let's all support and show kindness and understanding to all walks of life or whether we agree with them or not I'm confident that this community has the intelligence

053and generosity to prevail thank you for your time that concludes the public comments Thank You Alan returning now to our agenda on the board's agenda is a level three parent grievance appeal the board will hear this appeal in open session is requested by the grievant board action if any will also be taken an open session prior to the grievance presentation the board will meet in closed session to consult with legal counsel after the grievance presentation the board will also meet in closed session to deliberate and consult with legal counsel closed session will be convened in accordance with Texas Government Code sections five five one point zero seven one and five five one point zero eight two one it's now 650 and the board will go into closed session to consult with legal counsel it's now

054727 p.m. and the board is back in open session and we'll hear the grievance appeal a quorum of the board is present to hear the grievance appeal if a board member believes that he or she cannot be fair to each party or render a decision solely on the record please state your name and recruit recuse yourself at this time will the grievant and his representatives identify themselves for the record followed by the administration and its representatives also present is the board's attorney Oscar GE Trevino good evening everyone my name is Bryan cluster Bor I am the attorney for the ACLU of Texas and also for mr. Brian Burke I'm joined by my co-counsel Audrey on opinion and mr. Burke is also on the dim I am Brian Burke I am the one that has brought

055forth the level 3 grievance my name is Michael Smith I am with the file a law firm and I was retained to represent the administration during this grievance both at level 2 and now at level 3 and we have Superintendent Duane York with us thank you in this appeal the board will first hear from the agreement and then the administration each party will have 15 minutes to make their presentation now 727 p.m. at the conclusion of the open session and we'll hear the grievance appeal the quorum of the board is present to hear the grievance appeal but the board member believes that he or she cannot be fair to each party or render a decision solely on the record please state your name and would you recuse yourself at this mr. mr. Burke I I'm

056gonna let mr. Burke I think the YouTube stream is on your computer and it's great echo it looks like he's on mute now I think if we all stay on mute when we're not speaking that should help yeah thank I hear someone mentioning the speaker view which may be helpful and I also had a question if whether I'll be able to engage in the screen sharing during a small part of my presentation mr. treviño could you please advise on that you hear me which cost visited with the board council and the board is going to follow all CF ng and they're not going to allow the introduction of any documents we simply refer you will to the level to record no problem does every board member have the the grievance document in front of them

057yesterday for a day with the record the board president will call it out in a few minutes including the audio conference at level 2 thank you if I may continue in this appeal Lord will first hear from the grievant and then the administration each party will have 15 minutes to make their presentation at the conclusion of the presentation each side will have an additional five minutes to offer any rebuttal or closing remarks the board secretary will serve as the timekeeper on the presentations and will form the parties of their time the board has been provided with a copy of the level 2 grievance record which includes the filed grievance form with two attached letters audio recording and/or transcript of the level 2 conference level 2 response and level 3 appeal form no new facts or

058documents will be considered by the board during this appeal the parties are to address the board and not each other the board will listen to the presentations but will not be subject to questions from the parties at the conclusion of the presentations the board masks questions of the parties for further clarification of the issues any procedural questions should be directed to the board president one thing I'd like to add to clarify is that the grievance Council has requested the right to introduce some additional exhibits that were not part of the level 2 grievance record due to the FNG policy we're not going to be able to accommodate this request are there any questions regarding the hearing or the process hearing none I Birk may now begin his grievance presentation at 7:32 p.m. thank you everyone

059so I'll be speaking as mr. Burke's attorney and once again my name is Brian Koster bore and it's good to be with you on la virtually tonight and I wish we could be together in person but thank you for taking time to hear our grievance as most of you know from reading the papers in front of you mr. Burke is a resident of Wimberly and also the proud parents of an LGBTQ student in Wimberley schools the issues that we are here to discuss this evening are straightforward when mr. Burke and other parents altered the Wimberly texans logo and used it for an LGBTQ pride march and also to engage in criticism and comment on facebook they were engaging in core political speech on a matter of public concern that is clearly shielded by the First

060Amendment in response to this speech Wimberly ISD threatened legal action against them and treated this speech far differently and more forcefully than all other uses and alterations of the Wimberly ISD logo these actions were unlawful under the Federal Constitution and copyright and trademark law do not apply for the reasons that will state below if you have any trouble hearing me or if I go out please feel free to interrupt me during this presentation we're here to answer your question just to help you understand some double issues going on can everyone hear me okay thus far okay perfect so for the first time since this controversy began you now have an opportunity as the board of trustees to decide this matter and to also put it to rest by granting this grievance Wimberly ISD may still

061enforce its intellectual property rights and other ways but the district will also take a stand to respect the First Amendment freedom of every Wimberly parent and resident and no longer devote time and resources to threatening parents with cease and desist letters simply for voicing support for LGBTQ students in Wimberley school briefly I want to give a little background on how we got here most of you are already familiar with the details of what has happened since of Wimberly LGBTQ pride March so in particular I want to focus on the perspective of mr. Burke like every parent he wants what's best for his daughter and her friends he wants students to feel safe supported and respected in Wimberley schools regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation so on September 25th he made a post on

062Facebook which you can see on page 2 of the level to the level 3 appeal on page 2 of level 3 appeal he made this post with the altered rainbow LGBTQ logo and said quote I proudly stand beside those in our community in school to have felt marginalized and often bullied because of who they are we are Wimberly and this is no place for hate the greatest is love so that's the speech in which mr. Burke is trying to engage and that's what this grievance is all about a couple months later mr. Burke received an email from superintendent York which is on page 4 of the same grievance appeal you'll notice that this email that was sent on December 18th from the superintendent to mr. Burke starts off with mentioning the district's copyright and implying

063that mr. Burke may be violating the district's copyright the letter also in the second paragraph and third paragraph goes into a threat of legal action the letter says we request that you immediately take down the altered text and logo on social media or in print failure to do so by January 6th will result in a cease and desist letter from the WISD attorney so what caused such a kind and supportive message for LGBTQ students in Wimberley schools to be met with the threat of legal action we have a couple clues first as soon as the LGBTQ pride March took place a few people in the community were upset and they urged superintendent York to take action some of these individuals posted publicly on their Facebook page and call for people to push the superintendent to

064crack down on this particular use the logo within only days of the pride march superintendent York did just that he followed the guidance that he was receiving from community concerns and since an district-wide email to everyone in the district I'm talking about the logo use in this particular case as if you'll see that same letter also in our grievance forms that was submitted in September and this email the superintendent claims that the district quote will always protect the official marks and logo of Wimberly ISD and will not approve the brand's use in any altered format so this is an important point at the very beginning the superintendent pushed by public pressure really and even you heard tonight in a lot of the comments that people were really upset by the alteration of the logo they

065don't want the logo to change they love how it is just now but when you actually look around the Wimberly community as the businesses that use this logo it turns out that they've almost always changed and transformed it one of the slides I was going to show you which is in the grievance document is the picture of the Texans car wash you'll see that that logo that business that many of you probably drive by every day has actually changed and altered the logo in a major way they put three big words and fonts and big fonts that's a Texan car wash and altered the Wimberly logo similarly on also on page 3 of our grievance forms you'll see three other pictures of different transformed and altered logos that are in use in the Wimberly community

066all three of these have the W and T which is part of the Wimberly s trademarks and that's part of the the flag logo and they they also have religious symbols including crosses and they have the words blessed to be a text in to our knowledge no one in the community created any uproar about these uses of the logo no one pushed the superintendent to take action and response to these alterations and to our knowledge the superintendent never sent any district-wide email about the alterations that were going on for these other uses of the logo there's one more clue that we also look at for why this legal action was happening the superintendent was being pressured by people in the community to take this action and on December 6 one of these individuals posted on

067Facebook that she had just gotten off the phone with superintendent York and he said we are indeed going to enforce the trademark and this person said if that's true this is another win the logo is coming down so that's what this is all about people in the community did not like the content and the views expressed by mr. Burke and other parents the district responded to their concerns by taking action and regardless of what the district's actual motivations were the fact that they're based on those concerns from members of the public is content and viewpoint discrimination the district itself doesn't need to have a sinister motive for actually wanting to suppress mr. Burke speech what courts look to in these First Amendment cases is that they are responding to this content to this viewpoint the

068even based on community Cerne concerns that is still First Amendment discrimination and retaliation the email that the superintendent sent on December 18th less than two weeks after this person got off the phone with the superintendent claiming that it's a win had its intended effect after this email was sent to people who still had this logo on their Facebook pages many community members and parents and Wimberly took this post down and their voices were silenced and their speech was chilled mr. Burke still has this post up on his Facebook account but he lived in fear any day the district could take legal action against him the district could send him a cease and desist letter and what that typically means in common vernacular is that the district might take other stronger measures against him like filing

069a lawsuit by threatening legal action against mr. Burke and other parents Wimberly ISP has violated their freedom of speech in three ways first parents speech has been unlawfully chilled and suppressed as a government entity Wimberly ISP cannot stop people from voicing their opinion even when those opinions are critical of the district itself the Constitution in the First Amendment guarantee everyone in our society may voice concerns and criticism against the government indeed this is a very bedrock of our democracy second the district has unlawfully discriminated against the content of mr. Burke's speech in our society the government cannot pick and choose which speech to allow and which speech to suppress the Supreme Court has said that the freedom of expression must be guaranteed equally to the ideas that we hate or sooner or later it will

070be denied to the ideas we cherish in this case the government responded forcefully to mr. Burke's speech and threatened him with legal action if there is no evidence of the district took equally powerful action against other uses and alterations of the district logo this amounts to content and viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment third the district has impermissibly retaliated against mr. Burke and other parents for engaging and constitutionally protected speech when someone voices criticism or comment against the government or engages in speech of the government doesn't like the government cannot take any action against them if that is what's happened here Wimberly ISD has violated mr. Burke's first minute rights in these three ways but it still has a chance to remedy this harm by affirming this grievance and issuing a formal retraction

071of this email the district can ensure that the First Amendment freedoms of every parent in the district and every student are fully respected this is important to all of us since if we whittle away at the First Amendment rights of some people then sooner or later the First Amendment rights of all of us become diminished the dozens of court cases that we cite in the grievance letters on behalf of mr. Burke not only protect the rights of LGBTQ students and their parents but also protect religious liberty and the rights of Christians and people of every faith to exercise their religion in schools and other environments if the district chooses to ignore mr. Burke's First Amendment rights in this case it will irreparable damage not only his freedom of speech but everyone you'll notice and the

072love two grievance decision before you that the district barely talked at all about the First Amendment and that's because the overwhelming majority all of the cases we cited overwhelmingly support mr. Burke's right to use this altered logo instead the district's frames and focuses its arguments on trademark law but those don't hold any water first the very purpose of trademark law is to protect against consumer confusion about goods and services in the commercial marketplace for example if you own a store called Wimberly shoe company and I start a store called Wimberly Shoe Co then you might have a trademark claim against me for causing confusion about the source of goods and services in the commercial marketplace Wimberly is he actually admits that trademark law is generally limited to the commercial context on page 4 of its

073grievance decision but then seems to ignore this fact for the rest of its analysis but federal courts have been very clear that trademark law does not displace the First Amendment nor could it because the Constitution is supreme over all other laws although trademark law can be used to protect the district marks in a commercial setting it does not apply to corporate concern when engaging in comments and criticism which is exactly what's going on here and the district has not cited a single court case that would allow it to take the action that it is trying to do to suppress mr. Burke's First Amendment rights a few examples really help illustrate what trademark law is all about and how the district can keep enforcing its logos but not in this case for example if I wanted

074to make a lot of money and I wanted to sell a lot of Wimberly IFV merchandise and athletic gear and I took the district logos and started selling all this merchandise the district could likely sue me because consumers in the marketplace would actually be confused about the source of goods in a commercial setting similarly if another school district or a private school takes Wimberly ISPs name or logo and tries to start recruiting students and parents to go to that school that would also cause confusion in the marketplace but if I take Wimberly is DS logo and put it on to a protest sign to criticize or on the district's new bond proposal the district can taking no action against me because this is purely political and non-commercial speech that simply is not covered by the

075Lanham Act which is a federal statute governing trademark law and it's protected by the First Amendment it's important to remember that the very name Wimberly is D itself is subjected trademark protection trademark covers names like the shoe company example so under the district's current theory of how trademark can usurp the First Amendment which it can't you and I could not even use the name Wimberly ISD to protest criticize or comment on the district that's how far the trademark protection would extend if you stop people like mr. Bourke from using this logo to engage in criticism or comment that makes no sense that's not how trademark law works and trademark law cannot you serve the First Amendment these very same principles also apply with equal force the copyright law yes you sir apologize for the interruption

076I just want to check with the board secretary on time I'll get a little time sorry I don't know if you could hear them mr. Koster about this 40 seconds left the presentation great thank you so these same principles apply with copyright law and you'll remember that the very beginning the superintendent said they were trying to enforce copyright law but they have since largely abandoned those arguments because this is clearly falls within the fair use doctrine the fact that the rationale has changed over time at the beginning was about ultra altering the logo to copyright law now it's a trademark law shows that from the very beginning this was not about a neutral or fair enforcement of intellectual property rights this was always about responding to those community concerns about this particular viewpoint in this

077particular speech and that is clearly unconstitutional under the First Amendment we ask that you affirm this grievance and allow mr. Burke to keep using this altered logo without fear of legal retaliation from the district the district has a chance tonight to end this dispute and to respect the First Amendment freedoms of mr. Burke and every other parent in Wimberley thank you Thank You mr. Kloster Bauer the administration may now proceed with its presentation its 748 p.m. Thank You chairman thank you that are members of the Board of Trustees we're happy to be here this evening and help to clarify this situation shed some light on this situation and put this controversy into the right context to begin with I noticed in mr. Kloster Bars presentation near the end when he was talking about the realm

078of trademark law he mentioned that number one the WISD name would be a protectable trademark when in fact it would not WISD would be the designation for the Wimberly independent school district in the naming of this entity under trademark law that's not a protectable mark that aside every example that he gave of taking the WISD texan logo and putting it on a protest banner or a sign or a t-shirt that included words of protest all included a non altered logo this case is extremely different we have said from the outset when first approached by the ACLU regarding this issue that has never been the intent of Wimberly independent school district to stifle the speech to quash the speech to discriminate against any viewpoint or any message that's out there we provided a different a number

079of alternatives that could have been taken to express support for LGBTQ issues by the protesters whether they be students parents community members that could involve use of the the Wimberly logo as mr. Kloster by our mentions but without alteration to logo the logo is the brand of Wimberly Independent School District it has been the brand for a long time it has been the logo and it has been protected since its inception by common law trademark law yes it is only recently that the district endeavoured to go ahead and protect it on the Federal Register of trademarks that was the advice of counsel in order to provide additional statutory protections to the logo additional statutory remedies for anyone who decides to use the logo in an unauthorized manner this board is the arbitrator and the one

080in charge of how the Wimberly ISD logo is to be used you adopted as a board CY local which is the policy the board policy set forth for the protection of intellectual property owned by the district and let's be very clear under the Texas government code a school district a public school district is allowed to own both real and personal property and a personal property in this case would be the trademark the WISD logo and the flag logo in addition to the CY local policy there is a 16-page logo use and guidelines that are available on the WISD website which sets forth all acceptable uses of the logo it's also allowed that in our CY local that we have kept that logo use two members of the is the Wimberly ISD community whether it be

081the school itself athletics band theatre student organizations regardless of message if they choose to use the logo they're allowed to use use it in promoting their clubs their activities the LGBTQ if there's an LGBTQ Club they could certainly use the Wimberly logo the Texan flag logo as it stands as part of their name and a part of their advertising their community however they want to use it to show support what is not authorized by CY local is the ability to alter the use of the trademark for any reason and I know that that mr. Kloster bar is focusing this on the First Amendment and the reason that the level two grievance decision issued by the administration did not go into a lot of the free speech issues is because this is not a free speech

082issue no one is trying to quash the message no one is trying to discriminate against the students No trying to retaliate against anyone for their LGBTQ stance this whole situation could have been avoided if prior to the Pride Parade someone had come up to the superintendent someone had come to the board and said hey will the school district allow us to use this logo in this way and if we said no can we work together to come up with a reasonable alternative some way that you can express that you are a Wimberly Texan and proud of your affiliation with Wimberly Independent School District and your supporter of LGBTQ that never happened instead was sprung on the district all of a sudden the district is faced with facebook posts and an altered logo that they never

083authorized not by the administration not by the board and permission was never sought by anybody pursuant to the clear guidelines set forth by cy local to allow for use of the mark the situation that we're running up against is that if we allow the use of the logo as mr. Kloster Bower suggests then anyone can alter the WISD logo for any reason and any political message and so my fear is that if the board were to were to grant the relief that mr. Burke is requesting you will be flooded with the Wimberly texan logo with the flag altered in support of the second amendment with not Nazi swastikas with hate-filled speech with hate billed messages with anti LGBTQ insignia whatever you can imagine the Pandora's Box is open anything that is imaginable to be changed

084on that logo could be changed and done so under the auspices of free speech that is not to say that someone couldn't use the WISD logos and say you know we are criticizing WISD s stance on its treatment of black students on its treatment of LGBTQ students on its treatment of women on its treatment of Asians on its treatment of any color they are allowed to do that I will concede that to mr. Kloster bar they are allowed to use the WISD logo as it stands in any form of political speech and we you as a board are have no power to change that what you do have the power to do is enforce your trademark rights and your trademark rights are an exclusionary right they give you the right to exclude other uses other

085than what you have authorized see why local provides the authorizations that this board has approved for the use of these marks see why local states who can use the marks and under what circumstances within the Wimberly I d community and requests from outside the Wimberly ISD community in other words community members who might want to use a logo for their own purposes for example a intramural sports organization approached the district asking to use the Wimberly text and logo and they were declined the opportunity to do so are there writings on this probably not because a lot of this does happen with a simple phone call mr. Kloster bar criticizes the district for not putting forth any legal case that says that the district is allowed to do that the reason is that no such case

086exists and I would point out that the ACLU has not identified a single case where someone has altered a logo of a government entity school or otherwise and successfully challenged that in court as an acceptable free speech right yes the cases that he site do support LGBTQ students right to speak their right to wear rainbow logos in school their what their right to wear rainbow apparel to to wear shirts that express religious messages shirts that express messages for Second Amendment rights for all other things but they don't directly address the altered use of a school logo for political speech those cases simply are out there and the case that you'll see in in the paper submitted by the ACLU and that we have in the response to the grievance his one known as radiance the

087radiance case was a situation where the n-double-a-cp logo was used in an altered way and that alteration was allowed to stand now the interesting thing about the case is there is a passage worth noting in that case and the court specifically says that while the and while the infringer had the right to use the n-double-a-cp logo in its altered form for purposes of political criticism of the organization they did also say we need not go so far far as to say the social commentary solicitations can never be the subject of a ballot infringement claim in order to conclude that will not be infringing so long as the use of the mark does not create confusion as to source sponsorship or affiliation that is the concern of Wimberly independent school district is whether or not there's

088going to be a false sense of endorsement of any message that the the altered logo shows up on that's why the board has been vested with the rights to enforce its trademarks to take whatever action it needs to take to stop altered uses of its trademarks and this is not a free speech issue Wimberly independence superintendent York has met with the some students from the LGBTQ community since this has all happened has asked him about the logo has asked about whether or not we could work together to come up with an alternative and quite frankly the students who are most affected have said we're not really concerned about the logo yeah we want to be able to express our LGBTQ support but we don't care about this rainbow logo and so quite frankly all of

089this time and all of this effort could have been easily avoided if someone who picked up the phone ahead of time and said hey superintendent York we'd like to participate in the LGBTQ Pride Parade is there any way that we can work together to to have the support of the school show the support of the district that that WISD is a of LGBTQ issues and is responsive to them the district would have been over backwards to try and help and allow that message to be heard in a supportive way what is not allowed is the alteration of the mark and the use of it in an unauthorized manner has not been provided for by the administration by the poor the policies of this board or quite frankly by trademark law and so with that you

090know I would urge you to uphold the level 2 grievance findings provided by the administration deny the request for relief because quite frankly the biggest fear is the Pandora's Box that could be opened if we allow the rainbow flag held tax and logo to continue to be displayed it opens up the door for any other organization to alter your logos and use them in a manner inconsistent with the message and the educational goals of Wimberly independent school district thank you thank you mr. Smith at this time mr. Burke you have five minutes to present a rebuttal or closing remarks Thank You mr. Smith and thank you members of the board of trustees um the first thing I'd like to start off by you know talking about how you know the counsel for the district says

091this is not a free speech issue it is very concerning that the district is not taking seriously the First Amendment issues at stake they talk about the Pandora's Box that could be opened if others are allowed to use the trademarks and logos in this way but conversely there's a huge Pandora's box once the district starts whittling away at the First Amendment rights of parents and students in the district the free speech at issues here are very clear as we've discussed but the district has taken action far more forcefully against mr. Burke and the parents using this particular logo than any other logo that we know of in the Wimberly community there are quite a number of cases that we cited in the papers before you all on which actually are cases which schools have been

092held liable for very similar issues here it's very telling that the did the attorney for the district can't point to a single case that would allow the district to take this kind of action and that's because it's clearly unconstitutional it doesn't exist Wimberly ISD does not want or need to be known for a path-breaking case to show that this is clearly unconstitutional when many other districts have probably looked at the same kind of fact pattern and said there's no point for the district trying to suppress this free speech right because that would also affect the rights of other students mr. Smith talks about his fear that other groups might start using the logo and other ways First Amendment cases are often somewhat fact-specific and would depend on the particular issues in that case there could

093be issues of threats or hate speech if a group like the Nazis was using the logo for something like that but the board here only has to consider the grievance before it which is the exact kind of speech and post that mr. Burke was using which is a message of love and support for LGBTQ students and also criticism of the district for not providing a safe and affirming environment for these students such criticism is clearly protected by the First Amendment trademark and copyright law do not apply the one situation that mr. Smith mentioned about the sports league we don't know the facts of that but it sounds very different from what's at issue here that would go to confusion in the marketplace perhaps the sports league is a commercial I'm into T where people pay

094money for sports and Wimberly itself has its own sports teams so there could be confusion about the actual goods and services in the marketplace that's not what's going on here mr. Burke is not trying to sell anything or compete with Wimberly ISD in the commercial marketplace he's merely expressing his opinions the district's proposed solution is no solution at all what the district has proposed that mr. Burke should have picked up the phone and called the superintendent to ask her permission and to talk about how he could criticize the government that is not how it works that's called censorship and the First Amendment does not let that happen if I want to criticize the government or a government official or even just comment or even praise if I want to praise the school board for doing

095an amazing job and affirming this grievance I don't have to call for permission that is not how the Constitution works it's also not how trademark law works and the school district should not go out on a limb when there's no case at all no court case that would support the district taking this kind of action and to bring down the hammer on mr. Berg because that's gonna hurt the free speech rights of every parent and when to the ISD and also continue wasting potentially tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars that go to attorneys but are not going to the actual students and parents of Wimberly ISD one minute sir so we asked that the district affirm this grievance that it upholds the First Amendment rights of mr. Burke and other parents in the district and

096then at retract this email so that it takes away the legal threat that is hovering over mr. Burke and others that has already sent a message to that members of the LGBT community of Wimberly schools that they are being treated this speech has been treated more differently and more forcefully than other uses of the logos and no matter what the district has done since then that motivation is still there and that's what a court will look to those comments that were made to the superintendent the actions a superintendent took and that is the First Amendment discrimination retaliation and chilling that has happened in the district but tonight the district has a chance to fix that to rectify the situation and to respect the First Amendment freedoms of mr. Burke and other parents in his situation

097for years to come I'm happy to answer any questions you all have and thanks so much for your attention tonight thank you sir at this time I'd like to give the administration five minutes to present a rebuttal or closing remarks thank you Tim Leung the bottom line is we are not chilling this free speech of anyone the message that mr. Burke put out I proudly stand beside those in our community and schools who felt marginalized and often bullied because of who they are doesn't ring as criticism it rings as a statement in an opinion and it uses the WISD altered flag with the rainbow almost as a form of endorsement not as a form of political criticism but regardless of how you look at the logo and the alterations of logo the bottom line is

098they have to show that somehow there's been a chilling of free speech nobody's saying that the LGBTQ message cannot be out there nobody's saying that we don't want to hear it nobody's saying that we don't support the message of inclusion of no fit no no place for hate WISD does support that message message and it encourages the students to be politically active and to speak out and to have their opinions heard but it also must protect its trademarks it must protect its ability and police its trademarks for fear that it could lose them or not be able to enforce them down the road this is not as much as mr. Kloster Barra wants to make this about free speech he would have to show that somehow we are attempting to try and quell the message

099the message is not trying to be quelled the message is not going to be quashed the message is available to be heard loud and clear and we support those students and those parents and those community members who want to wave Li proudly wave the rainbow flag in support of Pride and in support of LGBTQ issues just do it without altering the logo and that is a case that has not come up and that is a case that mr. Kloster bar hasn't been able to point to because it's not out there the use of a government for a school district logo in an altered fashion for political speech just simply has not been before the courts what has been before the courts is situations where logos have been used for criticize and yes I agree they

100can be used for criticism they certainly can be however when they're altered that changes the landscape a little bit and while the n-double-a-cp case is closed it's walking on very narrow ground and as mr. Kloster buyer said these cases come down to very fact-specific situations the facts in this case don't do not support a First Amendment claim no one ever approached the administration to even discuss the issue prior to altering the logo and just putting it out there nobody has addressed the administration in terms of what is your stance what is your support or not support of LGBTQ students and had that happened that simple phone call then thousands of taxpayer dollars could have been saved by awarding everything that we've had to go through to get here tonight Thank You mr. Smith does that

101conclude your remarks it does thank you prior to concluding the presentations are there any questions from the board for either party no questions okay at this time its 809 the board will now meet in closed session to deliberate and consult with legal counsel the board will reconvene an open session for possible action on the appeal the audio recording of the grievance appeal can now be stopped until the board reconvenes in open session you okay it's ten five - and board has concluded its closed session coming out of closed session to open session for possible action I will now call the for a motion on the appeal as their motion regarding the grievance appeal mr. president of will Connolly I will move like a motion to move to deny the requested remedies but direct no other

102action be taken with regards to the grievant related to the grievance we've got a motion do we have a second most in a second any discussion hearing none sorry I just wanted this is Laurie Olsen I just wanted to take a moment to express that I take very seriously my commitment on the WSJ Board of Trustees and I value this community and this group of people that I work with and that I know that we are all doing the best that we can to move our community forward and to make the best decisions that we can and I'm that's what i'ma say for that thank you okay any further discussion hearing none all in favor raise your right hand okay that's unanimous Dottie at this time while the board had an opportunity to discuss these

103issues at length in an executive session I've requested that trustee Olsen express our collective opinion on these issues as they stand today thanks Joe um I did unmute and can you hear me okay this is a statement from the Deaf ISD Board of Trustees made the 20th 2020 the WISD Board of Trustees would like to take this opportunity to address the logo issue that has been debated in our community over the past few months we do recognize that our district can improve and clearly communicating our intentions goals and navigating district policy enforcement measures we are saddened by the division we have witnessed in our community over the subject matter this divisive nassif lection of our board stated goals and policies nor does it reflect daily practices of our administration and staff we have carefully watched

104and listened to many of our citizens over the past few months we have had these issues legally vetted from many different aspects and taken sensible consideration of our districts time resources and taxpayers dollars after this thorough evaluation we believe we have come to a point of better clarity and wish to articulate our position to our administration and community we believe the logo for WISD is a protected trademark of WISD if our logo is used or altered in any unauthorized way we strongly believe we have a right to defend our trademark our policy which is common to districts around the state provides that our logo be used for its strict intended purpose of representing our great district that said and although we may not agree with any of these unofficial or unimproved uses of our trademark

105we also acknowledge that our district has limited time and resources therefore we choose to maximize our time and resources toward higher priorities particularly in the face the current pandemic health crisis that has gripped our communities our nation in the world most notably our focus is and will remain on all of our children receiving the best educational opportunities that we can afford them in the safest most positive environment that we can provide the WISD Board of Trustees directs that no further action be taken against any individuals related to the WISD Texan rainbow flag logo being considered today we support our lgbtq+ community within our district as we do all our students and we will continue to make additional efforts to ensure that all feel welcome safe and supported we have already made great strides in this

106area over the past six months and we will proceed enthusiastically with those efforts and programs the district will continue to evaluate any future logo or trademark issues on a case-by-case basis under the guidelines of the above stated principles the existing policies of our district and those set forth in state and federal law we collectively ask that the wsd administration and our entirely Wimberly community move forward as well and focus on how we can continue to improve our wonderful school district for the betterment of all our students in the enrichment of our community thank you or this grievance is now concluded its 1058 p.m. mr. chairman I would like to just make a request that the statement that miss also read be given to our public relations people in our administration and we had that sent

107out to the appropriate venues that's a statement from our board of course thank you Lakes admission well at this time I'll conclude this meeting