Keller school board member calls Fort Worth community leader a ‘narcissist’ in emails
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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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Members of a private Facebook group representing the area surrounding the far north Fort Worth Heritage neighborhood took umbrage at having one their leaders called a narcissist by a member of the Keller school board.
Heritage Homeowners’ Association vice president Jennifer Samuels wrote to members of the school board on Jan. 15 to express her organization’s disapproval of a proposed split of the Keller school district.
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.
Samuels argued residents in her neighborhood had funded the district for the past 20 years, and that many had bought their homes in and around the Heritage neighborhood specifically to be in the Keller school district.
“We strongly oppose any boundary change without a vote of the community,” Samuels said. “We should all have a voice in any proposed split and be involved in all discussions.”
While school board vice president John Birt and Place 7 trustee Heather Washington both thanked Samuels for her input, Place 5 trustee Chris Coker questioned whether Samuels’ sentiments represented the opinion all of her homeowners’ association’s residents.
“You are writing as the voice for all 14+k residents?” Coker asked, according to a screenshot of the email shared by Samuels.
Samuels responded by saying she was elected to her position, and that her organization’s function was to advocate for the community’s collective interests.
She added several community members had asked the HOA board to reach out, and that she had yet to be contacted by someone supporting the breakup of the district without first being put to a vote.
“Would you prefer to receive thousands of emails?” she asked.
Samuels’ screenshots of the emails inspired several members of the private Facebook group to write Coker expressing their disapproval of break up plan while supporting Samuels’ credentials as a voice of her community.
“While I appreciate that her views co-relate with yours, she is hardly the ‘voice of the HOA’ as I have MANY constituents in her HOA that disagree with her opinion,” Coker said in a response to one of those emails, according to a screenshot shared in the Facebook group.
“Her position means nothing to me, the voice of the majority does. Time will tell what that equates to, but dramatic responses by narcissistic people claiming to ‘speak’ for a mass of individuals doesn’t even catch my attention,” Coker said according to the screenshot. “I’m here for what’s best for the kids, end of story.”
Coker echoed those comments in a text message to the Star-Telegram arguing that many in the Heritage HOA disagree with Samuels’ opinion.
“As elected officials we have to be careful about claiming to ‘speak for’ all people that we govern,” Coker said.
He argued that residents don’t vote for HOA board members to speak for them in matters outside the bounds of their HOA.
“For her to make that claim is extremely narcissistic, and clearly not true, considering the response I have gotten from residents in her community that disagree with her,” he said in his text message.
“I hope he asks me the same thing,” said Fort Worth city council member Charlie Lauersdorf in a comment on Samuels’ Facebook post.
“Yes, we do speak for and represent our constituents — even those that didn’t vote for us!” Lauersdorf said while praising Samuels for her advocacy on behalf of the Heritage HOA.
“It seems he must not understand the role of someone on an HOA board and he is entitled to his opinion,” Coker said in a text message to the Star-Telegram.
Lauersdorf said, in a text message to the Star-Telegram, that he was shocked and disappointed by Coker’s response to Samuels’ emails.
“I’m not sure he realizes that HOAs are legal entities in Texas and that HOA Boards are elected by its residents to represent them on a myriad of matters that affect them, including ISD issues,” Lauersdorf said, adding that Coker’s comments were short sighted and showed a lack of understanding of what an elected representative should be.
“The fact that he would say her position - as someone who represents 14,000 residents - ‘means nothing’ to him is interesting. I think what he may have meant was that transparency and community involvement ‘meant nothing’ to him,” Lauersdorf said.
The board will again discuss the proposal in executive session during its Jan. 16 meeting before a broader public conversation and possible vote on a resolution at a later date.
If the board approves a resolution to break up the district, it’s not clear whether that would trigger an election to have the move ratified by the public.
Members of the Tarrant County Commissioners Court, which would need to approve the resolution, offered contradictory statements Thursday about the need for an election.
Precinct 3 Commissioner Matt Krause, who represents Keller, urged his constituents to make their feelings known to the school board.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Manny Ramirez, who represents northwest Tarrant County, advocated for slowing down the process to give the public and the commissioners more clarity on what the breakup would mean and what the law requires to get it done.
This story was originally published January 16, 2025 at 4:15 PM.
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