Educate Plano

Educate Plano recently came into possession of an email thread authored by The Fire Sara Bonser Coalition. We find these emails to be credible, and below is our editorial opinion.

In January 2022, a Plano ISD Emergency Board meeting was called to accept the unexpected retirement of then Superintendent Sara Bonser.

Some say Superintendent Bonser’s reason for sudden retirement was just as she said: she was retiring to be with her family.

Others say The Fire Sara Bonser Coalition is more likely the reason behind Superintendent Bonser’s surprising departure.

The Fire Sara Bonser Coalition identified itself as a group comprised of “Plano ISD parents, students, and staff.” For months leading up to her retirement, The Fire Sara Bonser Coalition had been persistently sending emails seeking accountability for a number of issues, each issue documented in its own email that appended onto the prior one, creating an incredibly long email thread. And that email, which included what appeared to be legitimate Plano ISD internal documents, made its way not only into Superintendent Bonser’s inbox, but across the community including on social media as seen here.

The emails from The Fire Sara Bonser Coalition did not stop with Superintendent Bonser’s retirement announcement. With the emails still addressed to Superintendent Bonser, the focus turned to concerns about the character of the individual who had been named to replace her – the then “Deputy Superintendent/Chief Operating Officer” Theresa Williams.

The last time it appears that The Fire Sara Bonser Coalition was heard from was on May 31, 2022, around the time of Superintendent Bonser’s last day with Plano ISD.

Whether or not there is agreement with every specific issue The Fire Sara Bonser Coalition raised, their ability to identify overarching and troubling concerns within Plano ISD was eye-opening, including:

• There is a succession plan for replacing the Superintendent, whereby Theresa Williams was the only applicant to replace Sara Bonser, making the community input solicited for the new superintendent seem merely for show. Until this practice is abandoned, expect cronyism to continue.
• Plano ISD’s legal counsel appears to have told an untruth to the Texas Attorney General to get out of having to fulfill an Open Records request. How common is this practice?
• Apparently a Plano ISD Principal can verbally assault and intimidate a parent, in front of Plano ISD students on Plano ISD property no less, and maintain a job as Principal.
• The Plano ISD School Board was okay with hiring a Superintendent whose spouse worked in Plano ISD as an administrator and whose superiors reported directly to the Superintendent.
• It doesn’t appear that the Plano ISD School Board does thorough background checks on its only hire (the Superintendent).
• Don’t expect the Plano ISD School Board to bat an eye at compelling evidence that a candidate for leading this taxpayer funded entity may have committed bankruptcy fraud.
• Do expect Plano ISD top leadership to attest that the District is in compliance with Texas law when in fact it isn’t and hasn’t been (e.g. the School Health Advisory Council aka SHAC).
• Plano ISD doesn’t seem to think twice of sending communications to teachers that make them feel undervalued, underappreciated, and burdened.
• While Plano ISD seems to have led the public to believe that the fall of 2023 is the first they’ve had concerns with the community questioning library books, Plano ISD has been well aware since fall 2021.
• Looks like Plano ISD reports different accountability data to the state than it does to the community.
• Plano ISD Administration apparently has a history of not complying with directives voted upon by the Plano ISD School Board.
• A reporter acknowledged receiving communication from a Plano ISD teacher that indicated there is a toxic culture in Plano ISD.
• Don’t count on unbiased reporting on Plano ISD by the local media as it appears local media is in Plano ISD’s back pocket.