Plaintiffs in Keller ISD lawsuit to focus on removal of ‘rump board’
The far north Fort Worth neighborhood association suing to remove three Keller school trustees over a plan to split the district announced their intention Friday to pause another lawsuit filed earlier this year.
The removal lawsuit, filed in Tarrant County on July 31, has been accepted by a district judge in Johnson County after being transferred there earlier this month. It was severed from an injunction lawsuit, which seeks to prevent future efforts to split the Keller district.
Representatives of the Heritage Legal Task Force, formed by members of the Heritage Home Owners Association, said in a news release Friday that the two lawsuits overlap, and they plan to pause the injunction lawsuit to focus on the removal of the so-called “rump board.”
“The case for removal is built on a foundation of new evidence obtained through the original lawsuit and seeks to hold the board members accountable for their documented incompetence and unlawful conduct,” the release states.
The plaintiffs — Keller school board president John Birt, former president Charles Randklev and vice president Heather Washington — are accused in the lawsuit of violating the Texas Open Meetings Act and Keller ISD board policy when they privately discussed and took other steps in connection with the proposed split last year.
Attorneys representing the board have argued that the claims have no merit and said the trustees never violated the Open Meetings Act or stepped outside legal bounds when considering the split.
According to the July 31 lawsuit, talks about the idea of dividing the district began as early as May 2024. The trustees previously held that the earliest they discussed the split before it became public was Dec. 19.
Randklev announced during an executive session on Dec. 19 that the board would vote on the proposal as early as Jan. 16 “in order to rapidly implement” the plan, the lawsuit states.
Before the plan could be implemented, the Star-Telegram published news of the split that had leaked online in early January, and the proposal was called off in early March after several weeks of controversy.
The Heritage Legal Task Force recently asked the Texas Education Agency to “oversee” the Keller school board to make sure meetings are conducted properly.
This story was originally published August 30, 2025 at 2:15 PM.
