A local family is suing the Coppell Independent School District for allegedly retaliating against them after they complained about a school assignment given to their son that they considered discriminatory.
The student, referred to in the lawsuit as JEC, attended New Tech High School in the Coppell ISD and was in the 10th grade when the alleged discrimination occurred in late 2021.
As first reported by Texas Scorecard, New Tech chemistry teacher Haley Arroyo directed her 10th-grade class to “research and write about diverse atomic theory scientists.”
When she gave the assignment to her students, Arroyo reportedly said students could write about any scientist other than an “old, dead, white guy.”
JEC reportedly told his father, John Campbell, that the assignment was part of why he lost interest in his studies.
The Campbells then contacted Principal Joseph Smith and asked for Arroyo “to issue an apology to her students for driving such an ugly selection process for their work.” John Campbell said the family did not receive the requested apology.
Rather, CISD officials allegedly retaliated against JEC and the Campbell family, according to the lawsuit filed by the family on June 22, 2023.
An “anonymous” tip against JEC was reportedly filed using the district’s StopIt Solutions anti-bullying tip line, which claimed JEC “threatened to kill” Arroyo.
“December 9th, 2021, they said they wanted to ‘f-cking kill her,'” the complaint reads. The complaint came in almost a month after the alleged threat was made.
Assistant Principal Raheela Shaikh then allegedly used the complaint to justify suspending JEC and transferring him to Disciplinary Alternative Education Placement (DAEP).
CISD Communications Director Angela Brown reportedly notified then-Safety and Security Coordinator Rachael Freeman that she was “on the tip,” but StopIt Solutions directed the tip to Coppell police after failed attempts to contact Brown and Freeman.
A Coppell Police Department incident report states JEC allegedly admitted to making the statement against Arroyo on a private Discord server with his peers. However, it notes the case’s status as “unfounded.”
JEC’s father claims the tip was made as an excuse to take disciplinary action against his son.
“The police also came to the conclusion that this ‘tip’ was not intended to protect Mrs. Arroyo but to harm [JEC],” claimed John Campbell. “They even recommended he take steps to protect himself.”
Because of the disciplinary action against JEC, he was unable to transfer to another high school in CISD, as students in DAEP are prohibited from attending any other public school in the state. JEC opted to complete his GED rather than attend alternative school.
John Campbell filed an official grievance with CISD alleging Assistant Principal Shaikh “attempted at every turn to steer the process to deny [JEC] this fresh start” at a new school.
Furthermore, school officials allegedly retaliated further against JEC’s mother, Angela Campbell, who had worked as a special education teacher for CISD for over two decades.
John Campbell alleged Principal Laura Springer tried to cancel part of an event for special needs students and disabled veterans as a move against his wife. Angela then resigned after she perceived her work environment to be hostile.
Campbell filed several grievances with CISD against administrators he believed to be targeting his family, but nothing came of them.
He then contacted the Office of Civil Rights, the Office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Office of Governor Greg Abbott, and the Texas Education Agency (TEA).
The governor’s office directed the TEA to investigate the situation, but the agency suggested Campbell “follow the local grievance process” as previous grievances he filed had expired by that point.
CISD, however, did not launch an investigation into Campbell’s complaints.
Campbell eventually filed the lawsuit against CISD for “teaching critical race theory,” discriminating against his son and attacking his family.
The lawsuit, filed in the Dallas Division of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, claims the original assignment issued by Arroyo violates state law — specifically House Bill 3979 — “because the teacher was delivering a discriminatory lesson plan.”
“Plaintiffs believe their son was treated in a discriminatory manner because of his race and/or gender … [and] believe multiple District employees retaliated against [the family] for their earlier complaint about the science assignment,” the suit reads.
“The discrimination as to [JEC] was harmful to him as the course of his education was irreparably and negatively altered and his record of zero disciplinary history ruined,” it continues. “As a result, [JEC] was permanently scarred emotionally and mentally as a result of being the victim of [CISD’s] discriminatory actions and behavior.”
Campbell told Texas Scorecard he hopes the court will issue a just ruling and provide closure for his family.
The Dallas Express contacted CISD and the Campbells’ attorney for comment but received no response by press time.
