March 1, 2021
Goose Creek CISD Community:
On September 9, 2020, the Goose Creek CISD Board of Trustees created an advisory citizens’ committee to research and provide feedback on the District’s policy concerning the naming and renaming of GCCISD facilities. The Facility Names Committee was created after the Board received multiple requests to change the name of Robert E. Lee High School. Individuals who were interested in being on the Committee submitted applications, and each Trustee selected six individuals to serve on the Committee, including five residents within their District boundary and one “at large” selection.
I have been made aware of recent articles in a local media outlet regarding the District’s recent request to the Attorney General to withhold the names of the members of the Facility Names Committee. Many members of our community feel very strongly about the possibility of renaming Robert E. Lee High School. In fact, the tension in our community is the very reason the Administration has taken such care to protect the integrity of the Facility Names Committee process. Specifically, it was very important for us, as the administrators tasked with overseeing the Committee, that Committee Members be able to participate on the Committee free from undue interference by individuals who may seek to undermine the process and influence Committee Members in one way or another.
Regarding the District’s request to withhold the names of the Committee Members, the District received a public information request for the names in November 2020 for the names of all members on the Committee. The District's legal counsel submitted a request for determination to the Attorney General seeking to withhold the names of Committee Members out of concern for the Committee Members' ability to effectively serve on the Committee without undue influence.
I would like to be very clear on this point: the Administration’s concerns about releasing Committee Members’ names did not stem from a fear that our community would engage in threatening or dangerous behavior if the names were released. It is important to understand that once the names are released to one member of the public, they are available to any person in the world. While the Baytown community has engaged in difficult social dialogue in a civil manner, we recognize that there are those who may seek to exploit our current situation in order to cause further division in our community and our country.
The Facility Names Committee’s primary function was to review Board Policy CW (Local) and provide feedback to the Board about possible policy revisions or additions that may avoid controversy over campus names in the future. Necessarily, Robert E. Lee High School came up during the Committee’s discussions, but the Committee was not asked to and did not focus solely on that campus. I can assure you that even though the general public was not invited to participate in the Committee meetings, each and every member of the public has the same level of access to those who will make these important decisions – the Board of Trustees.
On a personal note, I feel compelled to express my disappointment with the misguided narrative expressed in last week’s editorial seeking to portray the Goose Creek CISD Administration as secretive and underhanded. Certain situations, like the one we are facing now, require a balance of the public’s right to immediate access to information and the success of the District’s overall mission and objectives. I humbly ask the Goose Creek CISD community to continue to put your trust in an Administration that has worked very hard to ensure a fair and objective process free from outside influence and political pressure.
To be accurately and objectively informed, please review the final report presented by the Committee Chairperson, who served with 41 other Committee Members for the duration of months of meetings and spent countless hours soliciting feedback from our community.
If you are unable to attend the March 1 board meeting, please monitor the Facility Names Committee webpage at https://www.gccisd.net/page/Communications.FSP for the Committee’s final report.
You may also reach out to the following people as a point of contact for accurate information related to this process:
Demetrius McCall, Deputy Superintendent of Administrative Services, E-mail
Matt Bolinger, Executive Director of Strategic Planning and Innovation, E-mail
Thomas Parent, Citizen Chairman, E-mail
Sincerely,
Dr. Randal O’Brien