Voters must have a say in splitting up Keller ISD. Why doesn’t school board get that? | Opinion

In America and in Texas, we don’t create new governments behind closed doors.

We don’t make huge changes to a school district that affect tens of thousands of families, employees, taxpayers and voters without giving them a say.

Or at least we shouldn’t. Certain members of the Keller school board seem determined to chart a new course for all these stakeholders in the most underhanded way they can legally get away with.

The public learned only last week of discussions about dividing Tarrant County’s fourth-largest school district into two — likely one district containing schools in the city of Keller and another, Alliance ISD. And that was only because a Fort Worth City Council member whose district would be affected, Charlie Lauersdorf, revealed that a board member had informed him of the matter.

For what purpose? How would schools be divided? What about district-wide assets? How would employees be affected? What would the timeline be? No one could or would say.

Compounding the secrecy, when school board President Charles Randklev finally confirmed that a meeting was set for Jan. 16, he indicated it would be a private meeting for trustees to receive “legal advice.” That’s a time-honored tactic to shut the public out from discussion, and while it’s perfectly legal (with limits on the scope of the discussion), ask yourself how many such meetings are strictly limited to hearing from a lawyer, with no discussion of the underlying issue among the elected officials in the closed room.

In the absence of reliable information, rumors have flown, dividing a district already riven with fights over gender policies, library books and other political battles. There’s talk that the intent is to stick the “wrong side of the tracks” — that would be the Alliance district, roughly west of Denton Highway — with the district’s debt and its worst-performing schools and even designating the Keller district the “new” one so that it gets a boost in state funding. Some fear that the board will attempt to end run state law about splitting districts to avoid an election, never giving voters in either area a chance to weigh in.

That would be profoundly wrong. These are decisions for the community to make, and the spirit of the law is clearly for them to be made in an election where all eligible stakeholders get to participate.

Right now, the point isn’t whether breaking up Keller ISD is a good idea or not. The point is to ensure that there is robust debate, answers to specific questions and concerns, and enough information for voters to decide what they want.

Under our social compact, governments don’t create governments — people do. Families, teachers, taxpayers and voters should not be subject to years of upheaval, possible court battles and difficult decisions about resources without being given the maximum input.

If ever there were a time for a local government to prioritize transparency — and truly elevate the principle, not just do whatever bare minimum the lawyers say the board members can get away with — it’s now.

It’s ironic that in Texas, where we vote on so much, including narrow provisions of the state constitution and the creation of municipal water boards, a school district could consider such a monumental change with such paltry public input.

As the Keller board looks for loopholes and clever legal machinations, watchdogs need to be vigilant. The Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office should be prepared to investigate possible violations of the state open-meetings and open-records laws. Board members should remember that they cannot legally circumvent the latter by using private devices or accounts; their text chains are every bit as public, if they are discussing district business. And district employees charged with executing the public’s requests for such records should stand up for the law and the people.

While there’s much we don’t know, there’s enough buzz around to suggest that a handful of Keller board members, at least, intend to ram through this change, precedent and legal niceties be damned. In the process, they cannot be allowed to shut out those with a stake in the district’s future.