SHERMAN, Texas (AP) — A Texas school district has apologized and reversed a decision that ousted a transgender student from a part in the musical “Oklahoma!”The school board in Sherman voted unanimously Monday to reinstate the original show and cast after a meeting in which dozens criticized them and spoke in support the 17-year-old transgender boy who'd lost his role in the production because of a new policy. Sherman, a city of 45,000 about 65 miles (105 kilometers) north of Dallas, became the latest community embroiled in the national debate over the rights of transgender students this month over its production the the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic. In early November, Max Hightower, a senior and theater enthusiast, was cast in a prominent part that included a solo. Political Cartoons View All 1247 ImagesThe school also removed girls from the male roles they’d been cast in, according to The Dallas Morning News. On Monday, speaker after speaker condemned the decisions to the school board — a consistent outpouring of support that Max Hightower called unexpected and empowering.

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Persons: SHERMAN, —, Sherman, who'd, Brad Morgan, Rodgers, Hammerstein, Max Hightower, Hightower, they’d, Phillip Hightower, Max's, ” Organizations: Dallas Morning News, WFAA Locations: Texas, Oklahoma, Dallas