A North Texas lawmaker wants to bring clarity to the process for any public school district in the state that wants to split, ensuring that voters make the final decision.

Republican Rep. David Lowe of North Richland Hills told the Star-Telegram he is filing legislation in response to conflicting legal opinions about whether the controversial idea of dividing the Keller school district would require an election.

Lowe represents House District 91, which covers portions of the Keller school district that stretch into Watauga. He’s been vocal about giving residents a voice in any decision about changing the district boundaries.

“I don’t care if they split. I just want it done in a fair and diplomatic and just way,” he said.

Texas’ education code offers two avenues for splitting a school district: one is by having 10% of voters in the district sign a petition, and the other is for the school board to pass a resolution.

While the education code is clear that the petition route requires an election, it’s a little murky about whether an election is required when the school board passes a resolution.

Tarrant County commissioners Matt Krause and Manny Ramirez, whose precincts both include Keller schools, offered contrasting opinions in Jan. 16 statements. Krause said an election is not required, while Ramirez took the opposite position.

During a Thursday night school board meeting, Commissioner Alisa Simmons advocated letting the public decide. “They do not want this district divided. The people are eager to be heard. They are essentially begging you guys for courageous leadership. It’s a lot, but it’s not that hard.”

Lowe’s bill would remove that confusion by taking the school board resolution avenue off the table. It would require 20% of a school district’s registered voters to sign a petition, which would then require an election to decide whether the district would be split.

It would also remove the role of a commissioners court, which under current state code is responsible for overseeing the division of assets between split districts.

“We take it away from everybody and return the power to the taxpayers where it should be,” Lowe said. He argued that the current make up of the commissioners court does not have the financial background to properly split the district’s assets.

“This is much more complicated than let’s sit down in a room for the next day and divide these assets,” he said.

Revelations in January that some school board members had been privately discussing the idea of splitting up the district created a firestorm among parents and homeowners on the Fort Worth and Watauga sides of the district. The Keller ISD superintendent has cleared out her office with intent to resign over her opposition; an interim superintendent was named Thursday night.

And a Dallas law firm is threatening a lawsuit that includes allegations of voter suppression.

Fort Worth Republican state Rep. Nate Schatzline, whose district includes Keller schools, said in a text message to the Star-Telegram that he hadn’t read Lowe’s bill, but would do so before commenting

Schatzline told the Star-Telegram on Jan. 23 he was opposed to the split, citing negative impacts on schools, property values and potentially discouraging people from moving to the district.

Lowe said his bill has gotten positive feedback from legislators on both sides of the aisle.

He hasn’t, however, received any outreach from the Keller school district itself despite sending a representative to both the Jan. 16 and Jan. 30 meetings.

Like Lowe, several members of the Keller school board are Republicans, so filing a bill that thwarts their plans to split the district could cause political blow back, he said.

“But I believe it’s the right thing to do,” he said.

Harrison Mantas

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

817-390-7040

Harrison Mantas has covered Fort Worth city government, agencies and people since September 2021. He likes to live tweet city hall meetings, and help his fellow Fort Worthians figure out what’s going on.