It was a packed room that overflowed into the lobby for a special board meeting Wednesday night in the Granbury Independent School District to address the recent controversy of accusations of a trustee who reportedly entered a school library, under false pretenses, to conduct her own investigation of the books on the shelves.
Following more than four hours of debate and public comment, the board voted five to two to censure Lowery.
More than 50 people, were given 3 minutes a piece to speak to the school board to voice their opinions about the matter.
Karen Lowery, who was elected to the Board of Trustees in November 2022, visited Granbury High School on August 2 for a distribution event for back-to-school supplies for students in need, according to a report read during a special meeting by Joey Moore, an attorney hired by the district.
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The report said Lowery had checked into the front desk and was designated to visit the cafeteria to volunteer for the event.
Surveillance video inside the school, which Granbury ISD provided to NBC 5 via a Freedom of Information Act request, showed Lowery and another woman walking in a hallway and entering the library. The district report said the women, "took a route that was less direct than entering from the access point closest to the cafeteria."
The video showed the lights were off and when Lowery and the other person walked in, a motion sensor light turned on. Moments later, the lights appeared to go off for a moment. Hallway video appeared to show one of the women in an aisle with their phone flashlight looking through shelves. The video timestamp of when the pair left showed that they spent about 90 minutes inside before leaving.
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An assistant principal at the school walking by the library saw the two women with their phone flashlights looking at books and asked what they were doing, according to the district report. It goes on to state that the other woman with Lowery walked around from behind the librarian's desk.
"He informed the two individuals that the library was a secure part of the building and asked them if he could assist them," said Moore as she read the report of the assistant principal's response.
The report goes on to allege that Lowery identified herself as a board member and that she was asked by the superintendent to come a look at some books. The assistant principal told Lowery students were about to enter the library and asked them to leave.
According to the report, the vice principal said the other woman with Lowery asked about a storage room and was told that it was used for computers and textbooks. The woman tried to enter, but the door was locked.
Granbury ISD superintendent Jeremy Glenn denies that he asked Lowery to go to the library and look at some books, the report details.
The controversy has surrounded whether Lowery followed policies and procedures for visiting.
According to the district, trustees can visit campuses but have to schedule a time.
The report goes on to state that during a meeting on July 19, school board president Barbara Harrington and others, Lowery was told that if she wanted to visit a library, she would have to call and make an appointment and check in with the principal. The conversation was recorded.
"There is no evidence that Trustee Lowery made an appointment with the principal of Granbury High School to visit the library on August 2, 2023," read Moore from the report.
Lowery was emailed by Harrington about the allegations of her being inside the library stating, "It has been reported to me that you and Carolyn Reeves were observed in the high school library yesterday exhibiting what was described by some observers as very sneaky behavior. The reports I got state that you were in the library without the lights on, or behind the librarian's desk and were taking pictures of library books," read Moore from the report.
NBC 5 reached out to Lowery but was told she would not be making a statement before the meeting.
Lowery has been outspoken about books in Granbury, and across the state of Texas, to restrict access to books that discuss sex, sexuality, and LGBTQ themes.
Last year, Lowery and another person filed a police report with the Hood County Constables office asking for an investigation as to who put pornography in the library. At this point, there have been no reports regarding finds of those claims.
In a series called Against All Enemies, NBC 5 Investigates looked into this police report and the actions behind it.
"We live in a conservative community which includes the teachers that work here, we may not all agree the same but there's certainly no one who wants to provide porn to school kids," said Zach Maxwell who has children in the district.
Maxwell, who describes himself as a conservative Republican said he was happy when the district removed books some people raised concerns about and said he believes the district has done a good job with its program to address complaints.
He said he is concerned about the accused actions of Lowery.
"You can be concerned, whether it's rational or not, you can have that concern, doing something about it is where we may differ because there are policies set up on purpose for trustees or citizen leaders to go in and do the exact same thing," said Maxwell. "No individual board member can act on their own, they are a board member, a member of a committee and in our country we have a balance of power for a reason."
Lowery spoke at length during the meeting defending her visit.
She says she followed school board rules and policies and told the proper people she was there to look through the library.
NBC 5 reached out to Lowery Wednesday and we were told she would not be making a statement before the school board meeting.
