Cy-Fair ISD Trustees Spar in Meeting About Policy Changes

Things got tense at the Cypress-Fairbanks ISD board meeting Thursday night.

In the midst of a contentious election season in which board vice president Natalie Blasingame is looking to unseat board president Scott Henry, Blasingame has been accused of secretly recording conversations with at least two community members: the wife of trustee Lucas Scanlon and a former GOP precinct chair.

When faced with a proposed policy change — which would prohibit trustees from making secret audio recordings — at a workshop session Thursday, Blasingame accused the board of violating the Texas Open Meetings Act by discussing its standard operating procedures during a closed session in June.

She then went on to talk about the importance of honesty and transparency, which prompted trustee Julie Hinaman to accuse her of gaslighting.

In an August interview with the Houston Press, Blasingame admitted she recorded discussions without the consent of all parties — which is not illegal in Texas — because she believed Scanlon’s wife made false accusations about her and lied about it.

“I think we’ve asked for transparency and the community asked for transparency,” Blasingame said at Thursday’s meeting. “For me, my wish is only that people don’t lie and don’t threaten harm to me and my family.”

While many have expressed concern about the secret recordings, and Hinaman alluded to there being more than one trustee who has done it, the real problem is what happened after Blasingame met with Scanlon’s wife Bethany and former Republican Party Precinct Chair Jeff Ivey, government watchdogs have said.

After Blasingame met with the community members in mid-April to discuss her re-election campaign, her friend Damon Lenahan threatened via text message to release the recordings if Bethany Scanlon didn’t remove a Facebook post pledging her support of Blasingame’s opponent in the November election, board president Scott Henry.

Lenahan has also been accused of posting combative messages on Facebook when someone makes a comment that he believes is disparaging toward Blasingame. Blasingame and Lenahan have denied conspiring with each other to threaten those who have been recorded; Lenahan said he acted independently to protect his friend, whom he referred to as “the darling of the district.”

On Thursday night, Hinaman said she was flabbergasted by Blasingame’s statement that she wants transparency and to protect her family from threats.

“That’s shocking,” she said. “That’s gaslighting. Somebody asked for the definition of gaslighting recently. That is gaslighting.”

Blasingame quipped, “Honesty is definitely the best policy, and I appreciate honesty.”

The issue of secret recordings has created distrust among board members, some of whom had difficulty containing their frustration with each other at the most recent meeting. The board’s Governance Committee, on which Blasingame sits, proposed updating its standard operating procedures to prohibit trustees from audio recording community members, administrators, and each other without the consent of all parties involved.

Scanlon was present for the first half of Thursday’s meeting but was not at the dais when the discussion about the policy changes came up.

Blasingame said she agreed with the policy update but put up a fight about the agenda posting, which stated that the matter could be discussed in closed session. She said she didn’t think it met the criteria for executive session, which includes things like property purchases and employee evaluations. She said she wanted to make a formal request for outside counsel to advise whether a Texas Open Meetings Act violation had occurred.

As Blasingame pleaded her case, board attorney Marney Collins Sims interrupted her repeatedly to explain that an item could be posted for executive session if trustees thought they might need legal advice on the matter. Blasingame wasn’t having it.

“I’m going to finish my statement and then you can answer,” she said to the attorney.

Sims explained that she is the board’s general counsel and gives legal advice in closed session. It is “not a true statement and is probably defamatory” that the board has violated the law, Sims said.

“I’ve offered to talk to you, as your lawyer, in closed session,” Sims said. “I tried to answer before the soliloquy … I understand now that you’re asking which specific section under the open meetings act allows a board to go into closed session and review operating procedures. It’s very clearly 551.074. You can go into closed session to discuss the duties of a public official, which is inherently what board operating procedures are.”

“This board has never gone into closed session contrary to the open meetings act, and to say that is a lie,” she added.

Ultimately, Blasingame said she supports the board policy revisions, which also create parameters for how trustees request information from the superintendent’s office. The board is scheduled to vote on the procedures at its Monday, September 8, meeting.

“I have zero issues with the content of our board operating procedures,” Blasingame said. “Those are not our duties. Our duties are assigned by Texas Education Code, and this is just our choice of how we will operate together. I actually very much agree to every point that was made. I am supportive, very supportive, of the policy that’s being proposed.”

Standard operating procedures are not laws, but rather internal rules created by the school board to govern operations and decision-making processes, Sims told the Press prior to Thursday’s meeting.

“In our operating procedures, school board members are responsible for holding themselves accountable, and the procedures provide for how trustees should address concerns with other trustees and can include involving the Board President or the entire board,” Sims said in an email.

If adopted Monday, the updated board procedures are expected to become effective immediately. Hinaman asked that trustees sign the approved document after Monday’s vote and that it be posted on the website.

Henry, the board president, said the item was placed on the agenda because a few trustees were concerned about secret recordings.

“It’s unfortunate that this step is necessary, but it’s important we set clear expectations, so our board members remain professional and respectful to each other and the public,” he said last month.

Trustee Justin Ray, who chairs the Governance Committee, said community members and district employees must be able to speak openly and honestly with their elected board members.

“These provisions are intended to restore and enhance that confidence that’s critical to district governance,” Ray said.

The board election scheduled for November 4 is sure to be a contentious one. Blasingame opted not to run for the Place 5 seat she currently holds, instead filing to challenge Henry for his Place 6 seat. A third candidate is running for Place 6, Prairie View A&M professor Cleveland Lane.

Lane is running with a slate of “teammates” who say they are “pro-public education” and want to oust the extremist conservative trustees who removed chapters from textbooks, supported book bans, and eliminated bus routes. Lane’s slate includes Lesley Guilmart for Place 5 and Kendra Camarena for Place 7.

Blasingame, along with Place 5 candidate Radele Walker and Place 7 candidate George Edewards, has been endorsed by the Harris County Republican Party. Henry has the backing of fellow trustees Lucas Scanlon, Todd LeCompte, and Justin Ray.