Grapevine-Colleyville ISD trustees have launched a review after an “Islamic Games” weekend surfaced on an organizer schedule for Colleyville Heritage High School, catching board leaders off guard and stirring fast-moving neighborhood debate. The listing raised immediate questions about who signed off on using the campus and whether district rules allow an event tied to a sponsor that state officials have recently criticized. District staff say they are tracking how the reservation was made and will lean on existing facility policies as they decide what happens next.
In a statement to The Dallas Express, GCISD Board President Shannon Braun said the board “was not aware of this” and added that she expected district policy would not allow an event sponsored by an organization her office described as problematic. Braun told the paper that staff were investigating how the event landed on the schedule and whether the district could require organizers to relocate. Trustees have not issued additional public comment beyond that interview.
Where the listing came from
The Islamic Games organizer has hosted events at Colleyville Heritage before, and public registration and vendor pages again list the campus as a host site, according to TicketTailor. A vendor sign-up form names Colleyville Heritage High School and its athletic complex as the location for a recent Games event.
Sponsors fuel the controversy
Trustees and some residents honed in on a sponsorship roster that includes a chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a group that has become a political lightning rod in Texas. The Dallas Express reported on the sponsor list and the local reaction. Concern has been amplified by Gov. Greg Abbott’s November 2025 proclamation that labeled CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood “foreign terrorist” and “transnational criminal organizations” under Texas law, an action covered in depth by the Texas Tribune.
Colleyville’s memory of the 2022 synagogue standoff
The community is still living with the memory of a January 2022 hostage-taking at Congregation Beth Israel that ended with an FBI tactical rescue and the death of the assailant, an episode that sharpened local anxiety about security at public gatherings. That incident forms part of the backdrop for why some residents and leaders reacted so quickly to this campus booking, according to reporting at the time. Coverage of the 2022 standoff by AP News remains widely cited.
What the district can do
School districts routinely vet and approve outside use of campuses, and trustees can direct staff to deny or revoke permits that conflict with policy. Board President Shannon Braun and the other trustees oversee those policies on behalf of the district, as outlined on the board page for Grapevine-Colleyville ISD. The district will weigh staff findings and any legal constraints before deciding whether the Games can stay on the calendar at Heritage High.
Legal implications…