A sixth-grader at risk
A non-binary student in Sherman ISD has been bullied, assaulted all year at school; his mothers want the district to finally act TAMMYE NASH | Managing Editor nash@dallasvoice.com Even as transgender Sherman High School senior Max Hightower was making headlines around the country last fall after the Sherman ISD superintendent tried to cancel the school’s planned production ofOklahoma!rather than allow Max to play a male lead in the show, another LGBTQ student in Sherman ISD was struggling with bullying and actual physical assaults.
The name of the student and their parents are being withheld for their protection. “My wife and I are an openly lesbian couple with kids in the Sherman ISD,” said M. “I can tell you there is a stark difference in how my [non-binary] child has been treated since Tyson Bennett took over as superintendent.” Bennett is the one who last fall set off an international firestorm of controversy when he decided unilaterally to cancel Sherman High School’s planned production of Oklahoma!
because a trans male senior had been cast in a male lead role. That decision was quickly overturned by the school board, and a delayed production of the play was staged in January.
But even as that controversy raged, M said, school officials — including members of the board of trustees — have failed to take any decisive action to protect her child. “And,” she added, “We have CC’ed the school administrators and the board of trustees on every email we have sent from the beginning.
