What's happening?
Randy Campbell and Jennifer Erickson were sworn in to their new board trustee positions along with Chelsea Kelly, who was reelected in the May election, during the May 14 special meeting.
They were part of the vote at the May 15 meeting.
Interest in the Keller ISD board election spiked due to the recent activities of the board about possibly splitting the district.
What they’re saying
At the May 15 board meeting, Place 5 Trustee Chris Cocker and Board President John Birt spoke about the importance of putting the divisiveness concerning the split aside and coming together as a community.
“This idea [of the split] was concerning to the community,” Coker said. “I’m glad we can move forward as a community.”
“Some might think this is a performative resolution,” Birt said. “This is not performative. We recognize this has been a contentious last few months. With the resolution, we put this matter to rest so that we can all move forward as one district.”
The backstory
Keller ISD held a special meeting Jan. 16 to discuss the possibility of splitting into separate two districts, which was met with backlash from many in the community and prompted former Superintendent Tracy Johnson to offer her resignation. The board named Cory Wilson, who was the district’s assistant superintendent of education services, as interim superintendent Jan. 30.
In February, students at several KISD middle and high schools organized walkouts in protest of the split. One local homeowner’s association, Heritage HOA, hired law firm Kelly Hart & Hallman to help fight the potential split.
In March, the Texas Education Agency issued a letter addressing “the concern reported about governance of the district should be reviewed.” State Representative David Lowe, R-North Richland Hills, introduced House Bill 4156 March 10, which would require school district splits to be approved through an election.
District officials called off further split discussions March 14.
