*Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify the number of textbooks impacted.
Beginning in the 2026-27 school year, Cy-Fair ISD curriculum will be able to include previously deleted chapters from science textbooks after the board of trustees voted Feb. 9 to permit the material as supplementary content.
The overview
The item—brought forth by board President Julie Hinaman—permits the use of all adopted textbook material and directs the administration to “ensure that materials meet community standards and present a fair and balanced perspective,” according to agenda documents.
The board adopted the item in a 4-3 vote, with trustees Christine Kalmbach, Justin Ray and Todd LeCompte opposed. The three dissenting members voted to omit the textbook chapters in 2024, Community Impact previously reported.
New trustees Lesley Guilmart, Cleveland Lane Jr. and Kendra Camarena—who spoke against curriculum cuts and book bans throughout their campaigns—voted in favor of Hinaman’s item.
The action will not create additional work for district staff, as it’s already standard practice to include supplemental resources alongside textbook curriculum, Chief Academic Officer Tonya Goree said during a Feb. 5 board work session.
Lesson plans as previously written by CFISD curriculum writers will remain intact, but teachers can add in content from chapters that were deleted ahead of the 2024-25 school year, Goree said.
Looking back
In May 2024, trustees voted 6-1 to remove 13 chapters from five science textbooks, citing concerns with subjects they viewed as “controversial” including lessons about climate change, vaccines and COVID-19. Hinaman voted against the 2024 decision, Community Impact previously reported.
As a result, CFISD staff had to write their own curriculum in 2024 about the topics to ensure the district’s lessons still satisfied the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills requirements as mandated by the Texas Education Agency.
Dozens of parents, teachers and district residents spoke against the curriculum changes at board meetings throughout 2024 and 2025, saying the board’s decision did not reflect the interests of the community.
“These textbooks were approved by the state and the parent Cy-Fair ISD [School Health Advisory Council],” parent Ginger Mitcham Patel said Feb. 9. “I served on the SHAC Committee, read these textbooks cover to cover and made the informed recommendation to use them in their entirety. That process and the will of CFISD parents was dismissed by the board in 2024.”
In other news
In a 4-3 vote of the same split, the board declined to adopt an optional school prayer policy as granted by Senate Bill 11, legislation allowing Texas public school districts to set aside time for students and staff to pray or read religious texts during the school day.
Gov. Greg Abbott signed the bill into law June 21, giving all school districts a March 1 deadline to decide if they will be implementing the policy. Districts are not required to approve the prayer periods, Community Impact previously reported.
CFISD General Counsel Marney Collins Sims said the law’s requirements create implementation challenges for a district of Cy-Fair’s size. For instance, the statute mandates the prayer period must occur outside of instruction and within a confined space every day across all campuses. Additionally, she said students must submit a consent form to participate in the daily prayer.
“There are a lot of tentacles,” she said Feb. 5. “That’s what was challenging about the statute as written is that it did not allow local school districts to do a lot of individualization.”
Students and staff already have the opportunity to participate in silent prayer or reflection during the daily moment of silence, and Superintendent Doug Killian said the district can accommodate students based on individual needs.
Looking forward
Trustees will meet in a closed session special meeting Feb. 17, which does not have a posted agenda as of press time. The next regular board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. March 2 in the Mark Henry Administration Building.
