North Texas lawmaker’s bill would set the bar for splitting school districts much higher
A bill introduced in the Texas House of Representatives on March 10 aims to make splitting school districts like the one proposed for Keller ISD much harder to pull off.
The bill presented by state Rep. David Lowe, a North Richland Hills Republican, would radically change how the Texas Education Code regulates the creation of a new school district by detachment of a section of an existing district.
But it may not arrive in time to stop the Keller school board’s plans to split the district down the middle, which has received vehement opposition from residents in recent months. The bill would take effect on Sept. 1.
Lowe, whose district includes parts of Keller ISD that are not in Keller, said this public outcry inspired him to author the bill.
His constituents “expressed concerns about the lack of transparency in the process and the fear that they would be compelled to leave KISD without their voices being heard,” he said in an emailed statement.
Disagreement over how the Education Code should be interpreted has led to heated debate over whether the Keller school board can split the district in two without allowing residents to vote on the proposal.
Proponents of the split have argued that the board can bypass an election by initiating the process by adopting a resolution. Opponents and education lawyers say that the Education Code requires a vote no matter which route the board chooses to start the detachment process.
Lowe’s bill aims to cut out the resolution pathway altogether, leaving a petition brought by registered voters in the district as the only option for initiating detachment. The law currently requires 10% of registered voters to sign such a petition. The bill would raise that threshold to 20%.
A vote to split a district would require participation of at least 25% of registered voters in the district.
The bill would also cut out the county commissioners court from the detachment process altogether, transferring its role of approving the school board’s decision to split to the Texas Board of Education.
The Board of Education would be responsible for allocating the original district’s debt and personal property equitably between the two new ones, as well.
The Board of Education, the Tarrant County Commissioners Court and Keller school district did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Lowe’s bill definitely helps “clean up” issues caused by what has been seen as vague language in the Education Code, according to Lewisville-based school lawyer Steven Dubner.
“It certainly takes away any reading that somehow the school district on its own could do it without going to the voters,” he said.
While it may not enter into force in time to disrupt the Keller school board’s plans to split, the bill appears meant to prevent the process from playing out the same way in other districts in the future, Dubner said.
Lowe said he hopes the bill will “give taxpayers the ultimate authority to decide on the detachment of a school district.”
Dennis Eichelbaum, an education lawyer based in Plano, approved of the bill’s raising the petition threshold to 20%, saying it would help ensure that a small group of people would not be able to force an election on such an important issue to district residents.
“Elections cost money, and they should be justified,” he said.
But Eichelbaum questioned the move to shift responsibilities from county commissioners courts to the State Board of Education. The bill text does not make clear any reasons for the change, he said.
It could be “because something locally has happened where you don’t like the system locally, and now you’re trying to change it statewide,” he said.
Lowe said he chose the State Board of Education because “they are the elected body specifically tasked with overseeing education, and decisions in this area inherently have educational implications.”
Both Eichelbaum and Dubner felt there is no ambiguity in the way the Education Code is written, saying it clearly requires a vote on a split no matter what. Dubner told the Star-Telegram in January that reading the code any other way would be “chaos.”
Local officials have asked Attorney General Ken Paxton to weigh in on how the Education Code should be interpreted. Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney Phil Sorrells sent Paxton a letter asking for clarification in February. Later that month, Fort Worth City Attorney Leann Guzman wrote Paxton asking him to side in favor of a vote.
This story was originally published March 10, 2025 at 1:22 PM.
