The same kind of far-right fervor that ensnared Round Rock ISD is starting up in Leander ISD, which reaches down into Austin. The school board’s first regular meeting of the year came complete with a right-wing press conference over a sexually charged allegation. They say the progressive board president won’t stop commenting on the only right-wing trustee’s penis, even though police have investigated the alleged harassment and say it’s unfounded.
Familiar faces from the attempted Christian nationalist takeover of the Round Rock ISD school board are shifting their attention to Leander. One of the defeated right-wing RRISD candidates, Christie Slape, made an appearance at last week’s LISD meeting. She came with a group of her fellow members of extremist organization Moms for Liberty. “We are here to speak out against Leander ISD trustees who have violated the ethics of their office and their district by allegedly sexually harassing a colleague,” Slape said.
The alleged harassment is a bizarre tale. The complainant – Paul Gauthier, elected to the board in November 2022 – has been accused of harassment many times himself. Now, he claims that he is a victim of harassment at the hands of Board President Gloria Gonzales Dholakia, who has a Ph.D. and 20 years of experience in nonprofit and social justice work.
The alleged harassment happened more than a year ago. In March 2022, before Gauthier was elected to the board himself, he was a vocal LISD parent. During the public comment portion of the March 10 meeting, Gauthier publicly accused Gonzales Dholakia’s husband of anally raping her. He started by questioning Gonzales Dholakia’s support for sex ed books that include mention of anal sex. He argued that supporters of such sex ed books believe children being able to “lube their anus” have an “easier” time being abused. He continued: “One of the first signs of the abused is to normalize abuse. And so I ask Gloria, do you need help? Are you in an abusive relationship?”
At that moment, Gonzales Dholakia cut in, “I think this needs to stop now. This is enough.” Based on this interruption to his comments, Gauthier filed a complaint with the district, arguing that Gonzales Dholakia infringed on his First Amendment rights. Before Gauthier was elected, the board had a closed meeting over his free speech complaint. It’s there that he claims Gonzales Dholakia first described his penis as “small.” He filed his latest complaint in June 2023, accusing Gonzales Dholakia of harassing him. Stuart Baggish, Gauthier’s lawyer, told the Chronicle in June that this “was absolutely bullying.”
But some Leander ISD parents see Gauthier as a serial harasser. At least five women have publicly accused Gauthier of following them to their cars after school board meetings. One Facebook post described police stepping in to escort a woman to her car as Gauthier followed her. Another said he was “screaming my name” and another described him “heckling.”
It’s possible that with the complaint, Baggish and Gauthier are taking a page from the Round Rock playbook, in hopes of having the elected board replaced with more conservative state appointees. In June, Baggish said that all but one member of the board was implicated in the harassment complaint because they allegedly laughed at Gonzales Dholakia’s comment. “It would be up to I suppose either the Texas Education Agency or Mike Morath.” (Morath is the Abbott-appointed commissioner of the TEA.) In Round Rock, when the right-wing community was calling for the removal of the district’s superintendent in 2021, far-right members of the RRISD Board met secretly with members of the TEA. Following those meetings, the TEA suggested the superintendent’s removal.
But in the Leander case, it seems the TEA has turned down an opportunity to investigate the board. The TEA did not respond to the Chronicle, but at last week’s meeting, Baggish said the TEA and Leander Police Department had both declined involvement. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Leander ISD told the Chronicle that “LPD conducted an investigation. The allegation was unfounded and, therefore, the case was closed.” The board also looked into it, and “further action is not anticipated at this time.”
That has not convinced the right-wing opponents to Gonzales Dholakia. One commenter sobbed at the lectern during Thursday’s meeting, pointing at the board and crying out, “You’ve isolated one of your own!” As a result of highly charged public comments, sources told us Gonzales Dholakia has installed security cameras and lights at her home and that she wears a camera walking from school board meetings to her car.
This article appears in August 18 • 2023.