The top local stories this evening from KERA News:
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is demanding the Fort Worth school district turn over a copy of its sixth grade human sexuality curriculum.
In a letter to the district, he said parents were repeatedly denied access to class materials, which include lessons about gender identity and sexual orientation.
“The question here is why a child can take his or her math book home but not his or her health book home? This comes down to Texas law and a matter of a parent’s right to have a full inspection of the children’s curriculum,” said Zeb Pent, a spokesman for Stand for Fort Worth, a group that advocates for parental rights.
Clint Bond, a spokesman for the Fort Worth school district, said students can’t take home their workbooks because the material is sensitive.
He said the district was surprised by the attorney general’s letter, but that it intends to send the requested information to his office. Superintendent Kent Scribner said district officials will meet on Monday discuss the request.
In May, Fort Worth ISD received another request from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s office for materials used to teach its sixth grade health class. Bond said the district has already sent that information.
Other stories this evening:
- A groundbreaking took place this morning for another residential high-rise in the Dallas Arts District near Klyde Warren Park. But as Art&Seek’s Jerome Weeks reports, this one’s different. It's not just luxury apartments – and it's designed with other buildings in mind.
- The group Pantera was often overlooked by critics and rarely played on radio. But the Arlington band's driving heavy metal sold more than 9 million albums and won fans worldwide. Last week, Pantera's drummer, Vincent Abbott, better known as Vinnie Paul, died of a heart attack in Las Vegas. He co-founded Pantera – and then the group Damage plan with his brother, the late guitarist Darrell Abbott. In this week’s State of the Arts, KERA's Anne Bothwell talked to music writer Thor Christensen about the brothers' legacy.
You can listen to North Texas stories weekdays at 8:22 a.m. and 6:20 p.m. on KERA 90.1 FM.
