FRIENDSWOOD — What district officials will describe only as “an incident between students” at Friendswood Junior High School prompted a principal to invite two Muslim women to give a presentation about Islam.
Superintendent Trish Hanks refused to give any details about the incident that happened a month ago, except to say in a prepared statement that the Houston chapter of Council of American Islamic Relations told school officials they considered it a hate crime and had reported it to the FBI.
Asmara Siddiqi, the council’s communications director, said the organization did not contact the FBI.
“In normal circumstances, we do report hate crimes to the FBI, but in this particular case, the school decided to resolve the issue,” she said.
She refused to give details about the incident because she said the school didn’t want them revealed because there were children involved.
District spokeswoman Karolyn Gephart said the district does not consider the incident to have been a hate crime.
Parents of Friendswood Junior High School students started a letter campaign to school officials last week in protest of a presentation about Islam meant to combat hate and bullying.
On May 22, two Muslim women gave a 30-minute presentation about Islamic culture as part of the school’s yearlong study of respect, tolerance and culture, according to a statement from district officials.
Principal Robin Lowe had “best intentions,” Gephart said. The guest speakers discussed Muslim culture, and there was no proselytizing, Gephart said.
The presentation was “sensitivity training” that organization officials sometimes give to hospitals and businesses, Siddiqi said.
“Muslims are the minority in the school,” she said. “We gave the presentation so students would understand better who their classmates are.”
Parents, however, were not told about the presentation. By district policy, parents are supposed to be informed about the purpose and content of presentations so that they can keep their children out of the presentation if they think the material might be offensive or inappropriate.
Hanks said she regrets that the district violated parental trust by not telling them about the presentation. Per school policies and procedures, district officials are supposed to review every presentation before it is given to students.
“You just don’t let anyone come and talk to your students,” she said. “You just don’t’ do that until you viewed what they have to say.”
Hanks authorized the presentation to be given only to staff, not students, she said.
The district is working to clarify its policies and procedures to avoid problems in the future, Hanks said. Trustees will vote on the revised policies June 10, she said.
