Keller ISD parent asks judge to intervene in discussion over proposed district split
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Keller ISD controversy
Read our reporting on the possible plan to split Keller ISD into two districts.
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A parent of Keller school district students has filed a lawsuit against school board trustees, seeking an injunction and alleging unlawful discussion of a proposal to split the district in two.
Matthew Mucker, who has three children in the district, filed a petition in the Tarrant County District Court on Thursday, Jan. 16. The Keller school board is set to discuss a proposed split of the district at a special meeting at 5 p.m. Thursday.
The lawsuit seeks to prevent the board from “convening in any manner that violates (the Texas Open Meetings Act) and urges the Court to impose all appropriate legal sanctions to ensure compliance.”
The petition cites lawyers who specialize in the Open Meetings Act and who told the Star-Telegram that the board may have violated the law in a Dec. 19 meeting without notifying the public of the topic being discussed. Two board trustees said on social media they first heard of the proposal in an executive session at that meeting.
Lawyers have said that an issue like detaching and creating a new district presents a special interest to the public, which mandates a more open and transparent process with the public.
The school board has not indicated that it might discuss the issue in a way that violates the law at Thursday’s meeting. The agenda for the meeting conforms to what lawyers have said is required by law. The meeting must begin and end in open session and allow for public comment, all of which are included in the agenda.
Bill Aleshire, an Austin-based lawyer who specializes in the Texas Open Meetings Act, and who is cited in the lawsuit, called the petition “admirable,” but did not expect it to lead to any action by the court ahead of the meeting.
Mucker, a software engineer according to his LinkedIn profile, filed the lawsuit himself and made a number of errors that hinder the lawsuit’s effectiveness, Aleshire said.
In order for any action to be taken on the lawsuit, Mucker would have to seek a temporary restraining order from the court. This would require the school board’s lawyer to appear before the judge, Aleshire said. Since the court would be aware that the school board has a lawyer, issuing a temporary restraining order ex parte, or without the board’s lawyer, is not possible in this case.
“The other thing about this petition is when you seek an injunction like this and a temporary restraining order, it has to be a sworn petition, and no one signed an affidavit claiming that even the facts stated in the petition are true, let alone state any facts that demonstrate that the board is hellbent on violating the Open Meetings Act again tonight,” Aleshire said.
The court did not immediately respond to an email asking if it planned to hold a hearing on this case on Thursday.
The respondents listed in the petition are school board members Charles Randklev, John Birt, Joni Shaw Smith, Micah Young, Chelsea Kelly, Chris Coker and Heather Washington.
The board’s lawyer, Tim Davis, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This story was originally published January 16, 2025 at 1:58 PM.
