Bill prompted by Keller school district’s proposed split stalls in Texas House
A Texas House bill clarifying whether splitting a school district must be approved by voters missed a critical deadline, giving it little chance of passing before lawmakers leave Austin.
Lawmakers on May 15 were up against a midnight deadline to give preliminary approval to House bills. Nothing is truly dead until lawmakers adjourn for the last time, and proposals can always be revived through amendments, but the lack of action on the bill represents a major — and likely impassable — hurdle.
The debate dragged and then dashed (then at times slowed again) as midnight neared. The volume in the chamber and number of spectators in the House gallery grew as time on the clock dwindled. At midnight, lawmakers were about halfway through a 30-page list of bills. House Bill 5089 by Rep. Charlie Geren, a Fort Worth Republican, was on page 29.
The bill was filed after public outcry over a proposed split of the Keller school district along U.S. 377 through a process called detachment. The district would have separated Keller, Southlake, Watauga and Colleyville from district residents west of 377 in north Fort Worth.
The idea has since been called off.
There have been different interpretations of whether a public vote is required for detachment or if could be done unilaterally through a school board resolution that then goes to county commissioners for approval.
The House bill, as updated in committee, outlines the detachment process for school districts that fall within one county — like Keller — and those that span multiple counties.
It says the creation of a new district through detachment would be initiated through a petition submitted to a district court, when the new school district falls within a single county. When the new district spans multiple counties, detachment would be initiated through a petition submitted to the commissioners court of each county or through board resolutions from each of the districts from which the new district is being detached, according to a House Research Organization bill analysis.
A petition would need to be signed by at least 20% of registered voters in each district being split. Current law sets a 10% threshold and sends the petition to county commissioners for review.
The original version of the bill removed the mention of resolutions altogether and gave the State Board of Education oversight of the detachment process, rather than a district court or county commissioners.
Rep. David Lowe, a North Richland Hills Republican whose district includes part of the Keller school district, expressed frustration over the day, which he described as largely being spent on bills of little importance.
“Now that we didn’t pass this bill, both Keller ISD can split, and now other districts around the state have seen what Keller ISD is attempting to do, and I’m afraid that they may replicate that,” Lowe said.
Lowe filed an initial version of the detachment vote proposal before Geren took over carrying the legislation. Geren did not immediately return text messages seeking comment.
Some Keller school district parents weighed in on the bill’s likely end on Thursday as the clock ticked toward midnight.
The legislation is necessary, said Matthew Mucker, a parent with three children who sued the district to try and block board members from meeting in violation of Texas open meeting law. He testified in support of the bill when House lawmakers considered it in a late April committee hearing.
“I just think there’s a huge danger to Texas and the people of Texas if school boards can decide to throw unwanted portions of their territory out to fend for themselves,” Mucker said. “I think that, that could lead to districts just abandoning poorer parts of their district or minority parts of their district.”
Lawmakers next meet in 2027, with the current legislative session ending June 2.
Katie Woods, whose kids attend Keller schools, said in an interview Thursday afternoon that she was worried that a lot could happen before the Legislature meets again.
“What really concerns people in my area is, even though our school board has said that they’re going to stop their split and that they would not be seeking a split, two years is a really long time for us to keep that at bay, if the people who currently are in control of our school board, continue to be in control of our school board,” Woods said.
The legislative process has been frustrating, said Laney Hawes, a parent who started Keller Families for Public Education. She raised concerns about the proposal before lawmakers, which she said makes changes not requested by Keller school district parents. A petition needing the support of 20% of voters would likely be “insurmountable” for large districts, she said, later noting in a text that if there’s a school district that needs to split for real reasons, there should be a legitimate path, as long as an election is required.
Hawes favors a simpler bill — “a simple sentence clarifying that a resolution for detachment by a school board would also require an election.”
As proposed this session, Hawes said she’d rather the bill not pass.
“In some ways, there’s a teensy bit of, like, relief if it doesn’t pass as is, because we are worried about some of the ramifications,” Hawes said. “But what’s devastating is that the fix that we need may not happen, and that leaves us open as a community to be split.”
Thursday night, the Keller school board adopted a resolution to officially put an end to talk of splitting the district, ending months of speculation and contentious board meetings.
“It’s going to be really difficult for our board to split our district in the next year or two, and so if this bill doesn’t pass, I think what it would mean is we put some serious time into working with some legislators to create a really great bill that could potentially pass next session,” Hawes said earlier in the day.
Lowe said he believes House Bill 5089 is dead for the session, but said he’d file a variation of the bill if “lucky enough to come back next session.”
As for this session, things can change, but Lowe said he doesn’t see an appetite for that this time around.
This story was originally published May 16, 2025 at 12:47 AM.
