Keller parent asks police to investigate if school board broke the law over breakup plan
A parent in the Keller school district is asking the city’s police department to investigate whether members of the school board broke the law by talking about a proposed break up plan without informing the public.
Andrew Sternke is alleging board president Charles Randklev, vice president John Birt, and Place 1 Trustee Micah Young violated the Texas Open Meetings Act by discussing a plan to break up the district during a Dec. 19 executive session.
Sternke cited Facebook posts by trustees Chelsea Kelly and Joni Shaw Smith saying the plan was discussed in detail during the Dec. 19 executive session, which caught both school board members off guard.
Fort Worth City council member Charlie Lauersdorf told the Star-Telegram in a Jan. 8 interview he was assured the board was merely considering the possibility of a break up plan.
Sternke also noted there was no mention that board would be discussing a possible break up plan in the executive session agenda for the Dec. 19 meeting.
“The non public and clandestine way this district division was present on December 19, 2024 is not proper and usurps the opportunity for affected parents, students and voters from having a say,” Sternke said in an email to the Star-Telegram.
Neither representatives for the Keller school district nor the board’s lawyer, Tim Davis, immediately responded to a request for comment from the Star-Telegram.
This wouldn’t be the first time school board members were charged for violating the state’s open meetings laws.
Two former Southlake Carroll school board members were indicted in 2021 for allegedly exchanging text messages about a proposed diversity plan, however, those charges were dropped two years later, according to court records.
Sternke cited the Southlake Carroll case when discussing his allegations with Keller police officials, he said in a phone interview with the Star-Telegram.
While the legal violations are the same, the stakes are different in the sense that in the Carroll case the board members were talking about policy, he said.
“Here you’re talking about some school board trustees who are going against their duty of care and loyalty to their own district and wanting to divide it secretly,” he said.
As a parent of a Keller school student and a resident of the city of Keller, Sternke said he had to do something.
The board will again discuss the proposal in executive session during its Jan. 15 meeting before a broader public conversation and possible vote on a resolution at a later date.
This story was originally published January 16, 2025 at 4:34 PM.
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