Texas lawmakers consider bill prompted by Keller ISD’s proposed split
Local control, voter participation and the Keller school district were front and center at an April 29 House committee hearing in Austin, as lawmakers considered a bill that would put the splitting of a school district up to a public vote.
The proposal at the center of the discussion — House Bill 5089 — comes after news broke in January that some Keller school trustees were considering a plan to divide the district in half along U.S. 377 through a process called detachment. The move would have separated Keller, Southlake, Watauga and Colleyville from district residents west of 377 in Fort Worth.
The district ultimately didn’t go through with the idea, but different interpretations of state law over whether the splitting of a district must be approved by voters became apparent amid public outcry.
“Over the last four months, I’ve learned more about the Education Code than I have in the past three decades, and frankly, I’m embarrassed to to admit that, but I had to learn because we discovered a confusing and dangerous loophole that our board of trustees attempted to exploit,” said Angela Hall, a parent in the Keller school district who testified at the House Public Education Committee hearing.
As a split was debated in Keller, there was debate over whether it could be done unilaterally if proposed through a resolution by the board or if a split must be taken to residents for a vote.
House Bill 5089 by Rep. Charlie Geren, a Fort Worth Republican, clarifies that the process of detachment must go through voters.
The bill as filed says a petition signed by 20% of registered voters in the existing district would be presented to the Texas State Board of Education. The state board would then determine if the petition is valid. If it is, an election would be held.
If detachment is approved in the election, the state board would equally split property and debt between the old and new district. The state board would also appoint a board of seven trustees to the new district.
Hall was among several residents and school board members who traveled to Austin for the hearing.
“I think that this issue extends way beyond Keller ISD,” Hall said in an interview. “As a mom, as a mother who is so obsessed with my babies and so in love with her community and schools, I don’t want any other family, any other mother like myself, in this entire state of Texas to have to go through what we’ve gone through.”
The bill would need to be voted out by the panel of lawmakers and pass through the full House, before repeating the process in the Senate.
The clock is ticking as lawmakers prepare to wrap up the legislative session on June 2.
Keller School board members weigh in
Keller school board members took opposite views as they made their case to state lawmakers.
The process being proposed in House Bill 5089 usurps two levels of local control, Keller school board Vice President John Birt told lawmakers: School boards and county commissioners. The proposal removes power from local citizens and their locally elected officials, he said.
“Are representatives really saying that local decisions should be made in Austin?” Birt said, adding that the legislation is a rushed “stop gap fix.”
He told lawmakers there was “no collusion” or “backroom deals made,” as he testified in opposition to the legislation.
“Everybody went nuts” when three board members raised the possibility of a split allowed by current law, Birt said.
Board member Chris Coker also testified against the bill. He said the discussion around detachment is “moot” for Keller because it’s financially impossible with the amount of district debt.
“We have far more urgent and meaningful work to do on behalf of students, and I urge this bill to die in committee,” Coker said.
Board members Joni Shaw Smith and Chelsea Kelly testified in favor of the proposed legislation. They are the only board members who live in Fort Worth and the only members who opposed Keller’s split.
“This bill is not just about governance,” Kelly said. “It’s about safeguarding the democratic rights of our communities.”
She called Keller’s proposal to split “financially unsound” and “deeply divisive.”
“It is imperative that decisions of this magnitude, decisions that affect property values, children’s education and the very fabric of our community be made with the input of the people who live here,” Kelly said.
Keller has been a “destination district,” said Smith.
“Now that reputation is crumbling because a handful of people acted without transparency, accountability or even consideration of a public vote,” Smith said. “And here’s the warning every district in Texas must hear: If it can happen in Keller, it can happen anywhere.”
Rep. Alan Schoolcraft, a McQueeney Republican, maintained that existing law does call for an election.
“The reason why they were going to use a resolution to create a detachment was to bypass a vote,” Smith said.
Schoolcraft replied: “Well, I don’t see anything here on a resolution.”
“That’s been the confusion,” Smith said.
Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, during Birt’s testimony earlier in the day, questioned why the State Board of Education would be better to oversee the detachment process than a county commissioners court.
Or, perhaps the local school board should take the lead, she said.
“I do fear giving away that power to the State Board of Education, taking away from our local community,” Hinojosa said. “I think our school board, because they enter into those bond obligations, they understand those financial repercussions and making changes to the decision. Their voters have to pay the price for bad decision making, and so it does concern me to move that over to the State Board of Education that doesn’t have that direct accountability to voters.”
Some lawmakers suggested the proposed split was racially motivated. In interviews, Coker and Birt said the idea of the split was financially based.
Geren addressed questions about local control and the motivation for the proposed split while offering final remarks on the bill.
Geren said he’s open to changes that keep the oversight of an election over detachment local — be it county commissioners or a local school board — as long as it’s clear that a school board resolution isn’t an option.
The issue should be taken to a vote, Geren said.
“If they want to split it, then split it. If they don’t, don’t, but I agree with Mr. Dutton,” Geren said, referencing earlier comments by Rep. Harold Dutton, a Houston Democrat. “This one almost seems to be racially motivated.”
“That is such a crock,” Birt said from the audience.
Staff writer Matt Adams contributed to this report.
