Tarrant County commissioner says court can’t block proposed Keller school district split
The Tarrant County Commissioners Court has no power to stop a proposed break up of the Keller school district if its board passes a resolution to do so, Commissioner Matt Krause said in a post on the social media platform X.
Krause, a Republican whose precinct covers northeast Tarrant County, was responding to calls from constituents after it surfaced that Keller school board members were having behind the scenes conversations about the plan without first seeking public input.
The board is scheduled to discuss the proposed break up in an executive session following public comment at the Jan. 16 5 p.m. meeting.
Krause acknowledged the potential break up will have the biggest impact on residents in northeast Tarrant County before he outlined responses to some common questions he was getting from constituents.
He made it clear that his thoughts were his own, and did not represent the Commissioners Court as a whole.
The district can split and has two ways to do so: one is by having 10% of voters in the school district sign a petition and the other is for the school board to pass a resolution, Krause said.
He also addressed the question of whether an election has to be called if the school board passes a resolution to split the district.
“Personally, as I read the statutes, I do not believe an election must be called if a resolution is adopted by the Board,” said Krause, an attorney and former state representative.
If the board passes a resolution, it automatically goes to the Commissioners Court whose role is to determine whether the resolution is valid, not whether it’s right or wrong, Krause said.
“Texas statute says the Court SHALL carry out certain responsibilities. There is no wiggle room there,” he said.
Krause urged his constituents to express their feelings on the split to the Keller school board directly.
“While I appreciate hearing from constituents on any issue, I have no control over whether the district initiates a detachment proceeding,” he said.
However, Precinct 4 County Commissioner Manny Ramirez, a Republican who represents northwest Tarrant County, seemed to contradict Krause in his own statement put out on the social media platform X.
While the statutes governing a school district split are hazy, they are clear that if the board passes a resolution, the Commissioners Court must call an election to address the matter, Ramirez said.
He called for a pause in the school district’s process to give the public more clarity about the impact of a split, as well as to give the commissioners court more time to understand what the law says about how the splitting process should proceed.
“I trust that, if given the opportunity to vote on such a critical matter, our residents will make the best decisions for their families and the future of the district,” Ramirez said.
This story was originally published January 16, 2025 at 12:48 PM.
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