Conroe ISD Attempts to Quietly Ignore Black History Month
Recent changes to board policy goes beyond Texas law, giving way for the district to pass over commemorative months that celebrate the histories and contributions of minority communities.
In October 2025, the Conroe ISD Board of Trustees passed expansive changes to several Board policies, one of which was Local Board Policy EMB, Miscellaneous Instructional Policies: Teaching about Controversial Issues.
I previously wrote about a draft of these changes in May 2025, which we learned the edits were meant to align with Texas Education Code changes with the 89th Legislature. Instead, we found that many of the board policy changes went well beyond Texas law, as noted by the conservative Texas Scorecard site:
A few key notes from the article:
“Additionally, the board voted to restrict official classroom recognition of holidays and commemorative months to those established by state or federal law that also align with Texas and U.S. history. This standard prevents politically driven celebrations or events that fall outside those parameters from being promoted within district classrooms.”
“The policy also prohibits instruction or materials described as “unpatriotic or anti-American.” District legal counsel Kara Belew noted during the meeting that the terms aren’t defined in state law and would be interpreted and applied by the superintendent.”
Did I read that last line correctly?1
Fast forward to February 2026, and the school district has not shared anything about Black History Month and apparently informed its schools not to do so. The district then later corrected this in a follow-up with staff.
On February 5th, I received the following screenshot of an internal Conroe ISD email. I was able to verify it with several internal district staff, though they were not district administrators or school principals. As I have other articles and pending public information requests, I decided not to hunt this down with the district due to the time and money it now takes since their legal counsel changed.2
Black History Month (February 2026) District Guidance
Under Conroe ISD Board Policy EMB (LOCAL) and in alignment with S.B. 12 (89th Legislature), the District may formally recognize a state or federal holiday or commemorative month only when it is established through an official action such as a Presidential proclamation, Congressional law/resolution, Gubernatorial proclamation, or Texas legislative law/resolution.
Because Black History Month in Texas is recognized through an annual gubernatorial proclamation (rather than being permanently established in statute), the Conroe ISD can only formally recognize it in years when the proclamation is issued. At this time, we have not received or confirmed a current-year gubernatorial proclamation for Black History Month; therefore, Conroe ISD should not conduct campus or district activities that are formally promoted as a “Black History Month celebration/recognition” this year. If the Governor issues the proclamation, we will promptly update campuses. Campuses should continue to teach the history and cultural contributions of Black Americans as part of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) throughout the year.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out…
Screenshot ends
I then received this afterwards as a follow-up:
What this means is that if the government does not officially recognize a celebration of people, or the U.S. President or Texas Governor do not make a proclamation on it, Conroe ISD will not recognize those people either.
Before we get into the impact this policy will have, let’s do some due diligence.
Social Media Search
Prior to getting the correction from the district, I looked at the district’s social media posts and their most recent district newsletter for February. There is nothing there for Black History Month this year like in year’s past:
CISD Website Search:
CISD February 2025:
Here are the only posts I could find from individual schools for 2026; there may be others:
Anderson Elementary:
Houser Elementary:
It is yet to be seen what further communications will be sent regarding Black History Month from the district, but I assume something will be shared after more people become aware.
Policy Changes
Let’s look at the specific policy that caused this question to occur in the first place and how it may impact other commemorative months in the future.
Here is the relevant section of Local Board Policy EMB:
Holidays or Commemorative Months
In accordance with S.B. 12, (89th Texas Legislature), the District may acknowledge or teach the significance of state and federal holidays or commemorative months only if:
The federal or state holiday or commemorative month is established through a Presidential Proclamation, Congressional law or Resolution, Gubernatorial Proclamation, or Texas legislative law or Resolution; and
Fits into the themes of history and the stories of this state and the United States of America in accordance with the TEKS under Subchapter A, Chapter 28.
Now let’s look at the Texas law this is based upon, Senate Bill 12 (89th Legislature), emphasis mine:
SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 11, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 11.005 to read as follows: Sec. 11.005. PROHIBITION ON DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION DUTIES.
(a) In this section, “diversity, equity, and inclusion duties” means: (1) influencing hiring or employment practices with respect to race, sex, color, or ethnicity except as necessary to comply with state or federal antidiscrimination laws; (2) promoting differential treatment of or providing special benefits to individuals on the basis of race, color, or ethnicity; (3) developing or implementing policies, procedures, trainings, activities, or programs that reference race, color, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation except: (A) for the purpose of student recruitment efforts by colleges and universities designated as historically black colleges and universities in collaboration with school districts or open-enrollment charter schools; or (B) as necessary to comply with state or federal law; and (4) compelling, requiring, inducing, or soliciting any person to provide a diversity, equity, and inclusion statement or giving preferential consideration to any person based on the provision of a diversity, equity, and inclusion statement.
(b) Except as required by state or federal law, a school district: (1) may not assign diversity, equity, and inclusion duties to any person; and (2) shall prohibit a district employee, contractor, or volunteer from engaging in diversity, equity, and inclusion duties at, for, or on behalf of the district.
…skipping ahead
(e) Nothing in this section may be construed to:
(1) limit or prohibit a school district from contracting with historically underutilized businesses or businesses owned by members of a minority group or by women in accordance with applicable state law;(2) limit or prohibit a school district from acknowledging or teaching the significance of state and federal holidays or commemorative months and how those holidays or months fit into the themes of history and the stories of this state and the United States of America in accordance with the essential knowledge and skills adopted under Subchapter A, Chapter 28;
(3) affect a student’s rights under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution or Section 8, Article I, Texas Constitution; (4) limit or prohibit a school district from analyzing school-based causes and taking steps to eliminate unlawful discriminatory practices as necessary to address achievement gaps and differentials described by Section 39.053; or…
Based on this, our school board approved a policy change that effectively allows them to ignore any commemorative month if it is not law or a government proclamation. They made this change specifically in conflict with item e-2 highlighted above.
Do you know what this means?
It is more than just Black History Month. It could include Women’s History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, or any other common celebration or recognition of the contributions and achievements of particular groups in U.S. history. If the political party in power does not wish to celebrate these groups, then our school district won’t either.
Student Impact
Recognizing commemorative months means more than just a post on social media. It includes activities that each school does to encourage students to learn about important history that we all share.
Go scroll this Facebook search to see what past activities are done during this time:
These are the kinds of activities that would be potentially restricted under this new policy change.
Greater Houston
Lastly, I decided to go look at other school districts in greater Houston that we often compare to. Here is a quick list of posts I found related to Black History Month this year, which all recognize and celebrate Black history:
Cy-Fair ISD: Link
Katy ISD: Link
Fort Bend ISD: Link
Spring Branch: Link
Closing
Our school board has passed dozens of major policy changes within the last six months, some of which go beyond Texas law requirements, but which all could have similar impacts to how we educate our children and celebrate our shared history.
We need to think really hard about the future we envision with our kid’s public education and what that means the next time we are asked to vote for people to represent our school district.
A special note we should recognize about Black History Month that is relevant for 2026 - it marks 100 years since the first national observance of Black history in the United States. Seems poorly timed for a public school district to attempt to ignore such a moment.
Read more about the 100-year commemoration here:
Thanks for reading.
Having the district decide what is unpatriotic or anti-American seems like a topic for another article. It doesn’t just potentially restrict teaching of certain history; it could police viewpoints, invite subjective enforcement, and it risks suppressing legitimate history.
Public Information Requests (PIRs) now cost a considerable amount of money as compared to years past when the district had internal legal counsel. Each PIR I’ve seen ranges from $100-$700 depending on the request.
When I asked my kids who are at 2 different schools, they both said there is lots of black history month signs on campus and being discussed on morning announcements.