Keller school trustee resigns after outraged parents learn of film crew interviews
A Keller school district trustee has resigned after she accompanied a film crew to a high school campus without permission from district officials.
Sandi Walker apologized in a Facebook post Sunday and wrote that she would step down. The post appears to have been since deleted.
“I recently participated in a foreign documentary focused on public schools in Texas,” Walker wrote on Facebook. “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.”
Walker was elected in 2022.
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Another trustee, Micah Young, also wrote an apology on Facebook and said that he was present for part of the interview.
Laney Hawes, a parent of a child at the school, posted about the incident on the social media platform X. She said the Dutch film crew sat at her son’s lunch table.
Hawes told Star-Telegram media partner WFAA that she does not want her kids used as “political pawns.”
The Dutch evangelical network previously produced the documentary, “God, Jesus, Trump.”
The Keller district said in an email to the Star-Telegram that leadership shares the parents’ concerns about the film crew’s visit.
“The District’s legal representation is involved and has directed the film crew to destroy all footage it collected or return it to Keller ISD,” according to the email.
The school board hasn’t met since Walker’s resignation and has not indicated the next steps for replacing her.
The school district also provided a letter that Superintendent Tracy Johnson wrote to Central High School parents.
Johnson wrote that the crew was at the high school on Feb. 9 to interview the trustees Walker and Young, and while on campus, the crew also interviewed teachers and students.
“The district and the board were not aware of the scheduled interview,” Johnson said.
She also said the district is taking “proactive” steps to protect the safety and privacy of students.
She added that the film company told district officials that no students or teachers would be visible in the film the company is producing.
But the district’s explanation did not satisfy Hawes, who posted on X that the other trustees who were involved should resign.
