Three Plano mothers sue district over booster club arrests, interference

Three Plano mothers are asking a federal judge to decide where Plano ISD’s authority ends and an independent booster club’s rights begin. Their lawsuit says district officials interfered with the Jasper High School Choir Booster Club, pushed control over private fundraising money and set off arrests that should never have happened.

The case was filed May 27 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division, under civil action number 4:26-cv-00561. Laura Cervantes is named as a plaintiff along with the Jasper HS Choir Booster Club, which was incorporated in 2013 as an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The complaint names Plano Independent School District and a wide list of defendants, including Billie Jean Lee, Katie Patel, Terrence Jennings, Phillip Morgan, Jennifer Isensee, Selenda Freeman, Sommer Ludwig, Carol Jennings, Suypeng Alexandra Hoh, Elizabeth Satz, Jane Doe and Universal Surety of America.

At the center of the conflict is a fight that reportedly began in 2022 over stage-repair costs at Jasper High School. Booster-club leaders Laura Cervantes, Krisinda Lingenfelter and Maria Luisa King said the expense belonged to the district, not to a parent-run nonprofit. The dispute escalated after, according to earlier reporting, Plano ISD disavowed the original booster club, helped organize a rival group with the same name and tried to change control of the club’s bank account through district fine arts director Phillip Morgan.

The club’s money became part of the battle. Earlier coverage said about $14,000 was frozen in the booster club’s Prosperity Bank account while the dispute played out. Three mothers, Cervantes, Lingenfelter and King, were arrested in connection with the conflict, but a Collin County grand jury declined to indict them. Another report said a Plano municipal judge later awarded the club’s bank funds to Plano ISD.

Plano ISD has publicly downplayed its role in the fight, but the plaintiffs say the district went far beyond ordinary oversight and targeted a legally separate parent organization. The suit could have implications well beyond Jasper High School, especially for booster clubs across Plano and Collin County that depend on parent fundraising, bank accounts and volunteer leadership to support fine arts, athletics and other programs.

If the mothers prevail, the case could draw a sharper legal line around how much control a school district can exert over booster clubs that operate as independent nonprofits. For Plano parents who donate time and money, the outcome could shape who controls the checks, who sets the rules and how far a district can go when disagreements turn into criminal and civil court fights.