Parents call for removal of Fort Worth school board member over racist, Islamophobic Facebook posts

The board chair of a Fort Worth charter school was presented with a petition calling for her removal on Monday night after critics pointed to a series of racist and Islamophobic posts shared by her political campaign's social media account.

The Change.org petition, which had more than 2,000 signatures as of Wednesday morning, claims that social media activity from Cheryl Bean is "inconsistent with the responsibilities of the Chair of a public charter school board." Bean is the chair of the Texas Center for Arts + Academics board, which operates the Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts and Texas School of the Arts.

In addition to her role on the TCAA board, Bean is running for a seat in the Texas House of Representatives as a Republican. Her campaign Facebook page, Cheryl Bean for Texas, posts multiple times per day, frequently offering prayers, touting endorsements and commenting on the issues of the day.

Some of the posts shared by the account, however, have drawn scrutiny. They include a political cartoon that invokes racist stereotypes against Democratic U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who is Black. Another political cartoon depicts New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who is Muslim, as an airplane flying into the World Trade Center. The account also shared right-wing memes targeting Hispanics and Muslims.

Another recent post that drew heavy scrutiny from Bean's critics contained an AI-generated image depicting WNBA player Sophie Cunningham as George Washington crossing the Delaware River, while her Indiana Fever teammates paddle the boat. Cunningham has recently been at the center of controversy over her stance on transgender women in sports. Of note, all of the Black players are depicted wearing children's' floaties, while her White teammates are not.

According to the petition, school administrators acknowledged the post in a message to families, and Bean deleted it. 

"The original intent was to show female athletes standing strong against unsportsmanlike conduct in a humorous way ... nothing more. My team and I did not see the floaties in the picture and would never have posted it if we had. I believe racism in any form has no place in our society and regret our unintentional oversight," Bean said in a message sent to school families.

The petition writers said they acknowledged Bean's statement and removal of the Sophie Cunningham post, "the concerns extend beyond a single image."

"When the individual serving as Board Chair publicly shares or amplifies content that many members of the community reasonably perceive as discriminatory or demeaning toward protected groups, confidence in the Board's ability to provide fair, inclusive, and ethical leadership is compromised," the petition says.

According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, about 20 students and parents joined a rally before the TCAA board's meeting on Monday night. Inside the meeting, speakers defending and opposing Bean both spoke during the public comment portion. A Star-Telegram reporter spoke with Bean after the meeting, who said she regretted the Sophie Cunningham post but would not step down.

As of publication time, neither Bean nor TCAA had responded to a request for comment from CBS News Texas.