Krause asked to cover costs of book probe

GOP lawmaker’s inquiry largely coming up empty so far among largest school districts

The Lewisville Independent School District in the Dallas area says it will cost a Texas House committee chairman nearly $3,000 to conduct a review of library books about racism and sexuality that he requested last month.

Another assessment came in for more than $1,300 from the neighboring district in Frisco.

And Conroe ISD, citing its catalog of more than 1.2 million books, said the request to comb through all of them to check for books that might cause students “discomfort” was subjective and therefore “nearly impossible” and “not feasible.”

The review requested by state Rep. Matt Krause, the Republican chair of the Texas House General Investigating Committee, has largely come up empty so far among the state’s largest school districts.

Many districts told the Houston Chronicle earlier this month they were still reviewing the request, though Krause had set a deadline of Nov. 12 for their responses. Austin and Dallas ISDs declined to respond. Houston ISD, as of midlast week, also had not responded to the letter.

Krause had asked districts whether they carried in classrooms or school libraries any books on a list of more than 800 that included Pulitzer Prize winners and other acclaimed literature. He also asked the districts to identify any books that “might make students feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of their race or sex” or cover any of a number of topic areas, including sexually transmitted diseases or “graphic presentations of sexual behavior.”

Democrats have denounced the effort as politically motivated

and encouraged districts not to respond.

While the committee has subpoena power, Krause has not exercised it. And Democratic members of the committee have stressed that no vote was taken that would have initiated a formal investigation.

In his letter, Krause, a founding member of the hard-line conservative House Freedom Caucus, described the impetus for the inquiry as a series of controversies at Texas school districts — Carroll, Spring Branch, Lake Travis, Leander and Katy — involving books that parents wanted pulled from shelves. One of the books, “Gender Queer: a Memoir” by Maia Kobabe, includes sexually explicit drawings. Another title that was targeted is about an abusive lesbian relationship that includes a sex scene involving two women.

Krause has not responded to requests for comment about the effort. He dropped out of the attorney general’s race this week and announced he would run for Tarrant County district attorney.

Lewisville was among the districts that have opted to treat Krause’s letter as a public information request. Under state law, a governmental body has to either provide records within 10 days, give an estimated timeline or request an opinion from the attorney general’s office on whether it must disclose the records.

The district estimated it would take 158 hours to complete Krause’s request for a total cost of $2,844. It asked Krause for the money upfront before it began work on the project.

In nearby Frisco ISD, which has 73 campuses and over 4,500 classrooms, Superintendent Mike Waldrip said Krause’s request “exceeds the authority granted to general investigating committees.” Waldrip noted that the committee had not voted to launch an investigation and that the request was not served by a peace officer or sergeant at arms, as required by state law.

“As the letter was sent by email from an employee of the committee, and was sent without any record vote of the committee, the letter does not constitute legally-issued process,” Waldrip wrote. “However, Frisco ISD values transparency and cooperation with the state legislature and its members. As a result, we are interpreting your letter as a request for documents sufficient to identify the information you listed in accordance with the Texas Public Information Act.”

Waldrip estimated it will take district staff about six weeks and cost $1,350.

At Conroe ISD, the state’s 10th largest district, general counsel Carrie Galatas said the district lacked the staff to complete the weekslong task. In the 2020-21 school year, the district received more than 1,400 books from its three biggest book vendors.

The district also took issue with Krause’s additional request to find books that contained any reference to a topic that would cause student discomfort.

“First, it requires subjectivity,” Galatas said. “And second, it would require Conroe ISD employees to read thousands of books to determine whether any of those multiple topics appears. The task is not feasible.”

Almost every district included in their letters explanations of the processes already in place in their districts for board review of library acquisitions or curriculum materials.

Galatas said Conroe had received one formal challenge to a library book, which was under review. The complainant did not have a child in the district.