Sublett

This is our second year at Carol Holt and we couldn't be more happy. We find everyone from admin, teachers to cafeteria staff to be welcoming and happy to be there. They all have made us feel like family and happy to be a Holt Trailblazer.

This school has really turned around. There was some stagnation during the COVID years and there has been some rough patches but the new principal has freshed up the place. New faces, new smiles, new STARR scores (up and up). Even some new events. I'm excited for these next few years.

From Learners to Offenders: How Pearcy STEM Discipline System Gets It WrongPearcy claims its discipline program is structured and fair, but my experience shows it conditions children to be treated like offenders instead of learners. Teachers have unchecked discretion to issue “signings” for petty actions—like my sixth-grade child being written up for a single laugh after recess. No instruction was taking place, no redirection was attempted, yet the teacher escalated directly to a formal discipline. The harm was compounded when the principal, Brooks, backed the teacher and even documented she would “check back in two weeks” on my child’s “progress for laughing.” This proves teacher discretion is always treated as right, with no accountability when staff actions damage a child’s record. Once a signing is issued, the child has no independent way to challenge it. Students are forced through a corrupt chain of command, while parents are given corrupt grievance processes that exist in name only. Emails I hold confirm this: the teacher initially refused to provide the write-up, avoided direct questions, and the school’s responses were delayed. This shows not transparency, but intimidation of both student and parent. Pearcy also conditions children to blindly sign documents such as behavior forms and classroom “contracts,” often under threat of grade penalties if they refuse. By law, students must attend school regardless of paperwork, yet they are taught to comply without question rather than think critically or advocate for themselves. Meanwhile, no comparable accountability exists for staff. Families are bound by contracts of expectations, but I have never seen a document outlining staff obligations or a clear list of what educators may not do to children in their care. Signings also build into a “rap sheet” that later justifies harsher punishments up to suspension. These marks are tracked and used as fuel to justify discipline. This system teaches children they cannot grow or learn from mistakes—they can only be monitored like criminals.This is not discipline that teaches. It silences. It strips children of their voices, pressures parents into reshaping natural behavior in harmful ways to survive mischaracterization, and legitimizes staff actions whether right or wrong. Pearcy and AISD alike must stop legitimizing petty discipline, create checks on staff authority, and provide real accountability for how children are treated.