Texas school board trustees snuck an evangelical film crew into a public school
Sandi Walker has already announced her resignation from the Keller ISD board
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On Friday, February 9, a film crew from the Netherlands entered Central High School, part of the Keller Independent School District in Texas, and began filming interviews with students. That sort of thing usually requires parental consent forms and a public statement about why strangers may be present in the building, but there was none of that. No one in the building seemed to know what was going on.
The principal didn’t take any action because the principal was out of the building. (In fact, that may have been why the film crew chose that day to visit.)
The only people who did know why the film crew was there were two school board trustees, Sandi Walker and Micah Young. The crew even filmed conversations between Walker and some of the students. After news of the incident began to make the rounds, Walker posted a note on Facebook apologizing for the intrusion:
Keller ISD Community,
I recently participated in a foreign documentary focused on public schools in Texas. Some filming took place while students were present. I take safety and privacy of our students seriously. I apologize for allowing students to be captured on film. The District has taken steps to remedy the situation and ensure no students will appear on film. I will continue to passionately serve our students, educators, and staff of this great district.
Sandi Walker
None of that explained what the interviews with students were about, what the film would be about, or why Walker was so damn deceptive about everything. It didn’t explain the drone cameras circling the building during dismissal.
Young took a similar approach, apologizing for the incident while being purposely evasive about the goal:
Keller ISD Parents and Community Members,
I want to take a moment to address the recent presence of a film crew on a high school campus where I briefly assisted my colleague in an interview about Texas public schools. During the time that I was there, I did not observe any students being interviewed. I regret if any students were captured on film. My understanding is the District has been assured by the crew that no student will appear in the footage. The safety and privacy of our students is of utmost importance to me. I am thankful for the opportunity to serve KISD as a Trustee and we will work together to ensure our students safety and privacy are protected on campus.
Micah Young
It’s hard to understand how the trustees could “regret” students appearing on film when interviews with students were clearly part of the project. It’s also bizarre to say “we will work together” when it comes to safety when the lack of transparency is why so many parents are frustrated with all this.
Making matters worse, when people dug into the film crew, it was found that that group, Evangelische Omroep (EO), is an evangelical TV network that previously produced a film called God, Jesus, Trump.
In other words, there was good reason to believe that these filmmakers were producing right-wing propaganda, using teenagers without their parents’ consent, with the support of two board members who deliberately circumvented rules in place to prevent exactly this sort of thing from happening.
(If a left-wing media outlet did the same thing, you know what the conservative reaction would be. In fact, Walker previously wrote an essay for a right-wing media outlet claiming, “Kids are off limits when it comes to adults wanting to push their political ideology.” How’s that for hypocrisy?)
The superintendent of the district soon sent out a statement saying the “District and the Board were not aware” of any of this (though it mentioned Walker and Young by name as participating in the project).
One reason we know all these details is because parent Laney Hawes, who has children in the district, explained her concerns in great length. She pointed out that the trustees allegedly “lied to staff” about the crew having permission to film in the building—the filmmakers were also given security badges, giving them access to the space. “Staff had no reason to not believe them,” she wrote.
She added that Walker and Young, both of whom were funded in their board trustee campaigns by the right-wing Patriot Mobile, were overheard disparaging trans kids and sneaking a banned book “into the library to show on camera.” One of the trustees also “snuck in [through] a side door.”
(She didn’t mention this in her thread, but this isn’t even the first controversy involving Walker. In December of 2022, she invited Messianic Rabbi Mark Aaron Griffin to deliver an (illegal) invocation prayer at a school board meeting. There was no mention of the fact that Griffin was “awaiting trial on four counts of sexual assault” against a women he allegedly coerced into becoming his “concubine.”)
Since Hawes’ thread went viral, there has been some movement in the right direction. On Sunday morning, Walker announced her resignation:
Dear Keller ISD Community,
Over the last 20 months, I have had the privilege to serve the KISD community. I enjoyed my time getting to know so many great students, educators and staff. After spending time in prayer, conversations with family and close friends, I have made the decision to resign from my position as a School Board Trustee. I'm proud of the work that the board accomplished and know they will continue to work in the best interest of Keller ISD. Thank you all for your support and kindness. My faith is in Jesus and I can rest in the confidence of knowing His plans are good. God Bless, Sandi
Ephesians 3:20
The last sentences alone tell you why she’s wholly unqualified to be on the board. After putting kids in harm’s way, she thinks tossing out a Bible verse will shield her from criticism.
As of this writing, Young has not resigned. Hawes said online that “we’ll exhaust all legal avenues” if both members don’t step down. Meanwhile, the next board meeting is scheduled for February 29. Should be extremely active based on the backlash so far.
Phenomenal. Whatever Micah Young and Sandi Walker thought to accomplish with their surreptitious actions of bringing not just an uncleared film crew but one whose politics were questionable at best, all they managed to do was to force themselves to update their respective resumes. I'm not even certain that, if the crew had been neutral, the result would have been any different. Seriously, why even attempt to bring a film or video team to a school WITHOUT THE SCHOOL'S APPROVAL?!? All this demonstrates to me is that Young and Walker are either utterly daft and without even a scintilla of discriminatory facilities or they are so full of themselves that they thought, "Oh, it's for JEEEZUS, so it's okay."
If the hubris were any thicker, you could swim in it.
Maybe it's going to take raising proselytizing in the public schools to a criminal offense to keep the preachers out of the public schools, paid for with everyone's tax dollars. They will scream bloody murder about how they're being persecuted, but they will do that anyway so let them. These are the people who would go out of their tiny little minds at the mere suggestion some non-Christian group might be allowed to talk to their children.