{"id":217377,"date":"2026-03-24T01:09:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T01:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/217377\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T01:09:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T01:09:12","slug":"texas-education-board-urges-austin-isd-to-cancel-pride-week-amid-new-state-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/217377\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas education board urges Austin ISD to cancel Pride Week amid new state law"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Controversy is growing around Austin ISD\u2019s Pride Week<\/a>, set for this week, as the State Board of Education calls on the district to get rid of the themed week altogether, and some parents argue there are more pressing issues.<\/p>\n

The debate comes as a new state law, Senate Bill 12,<\/a> has recently gone into effect. The law bans the use of diversity, equity, and inclusion in public schools and clubs.<\/p>\n

To comply, Austin ISD says Pride Week will be made up of voluntary events held outside of instructional time. The district also plans to get rid of blended courses that go along with classroom activities, and the events will need to be funded by PTAs and other organizations.<\/p>\n

Mary Castle, director of government relations for Texas Values, said the district should end the week entirely. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis Pride Week could be in violation of state law, and they should just discontinue it,\u201d Castle said.<\/p>\n

Elva Mendoza, a district parent and part of the Texas Freedom Network, said Pride Week is positive for many students in the district. <\/p>\n

\u201cI want all kids to feel comfortable and that they can be themselves at school, and I think that\u2019s all these activities are meant to do,\u201d Mendoza said.<\/p>\n

Austin ISD posted changes to Pride Week on its website<\/a>, saying events will not happen during instructional time. The district also posted a statement that said, \u201cWhen students feel safe and can show up as their full selves at school, they\u2019re better able to engage in learning and thrive academically.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the themed week has drawn criticism from the state. Last week, a member of the State Board of Education called out the district and Superintendent Matias Segura for allowing this week\u2019s events to happen, writing in a letter: \u201cPlease immediately stop indoctrinating students with \u2018Pride\u2019 activities, and focus on educating them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mendoza said the criticism is painful to see. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I see high-ranking officials attacking activities that are meant to make those students feel like they are welcome, that they are accepted, that breaks my heart,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Texas Values, a conservative education advocacy group, also warned the district last week about potentially violating state law. Castle said the group believes Pride Week is not appropriate for children. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe unfortunately believe that Pride Week brings in topics that are not appropriate for kids. I mean, it\u2019s basically talking about human sexuality without the parents being involved,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Austin ISD\u2019s website and FAQs<\/a> did not mention the acronym LGBTQ+.<\/p>\n

The district was contacted for comment about Pride Week and the criticism from the state, but had not responded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Controversy is growing around Austin ISD\u2019s Pride Week, set for this week, as the State…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":217378,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":{"0":"post-217377","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-austin","8":"tag-austin","9":"tag-austin-headlines","10":"tag-austin-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/217378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}