The Katy ISD board of trustees voted to restructure its members after two trustees allegedly breached the district’s code of conduct. Board Secretary Dawn Champagne, elected in 2021, and Trustee Leah Wilson, elected in 2020, both had their conduct condemned by the board through a majority vote at a Feb. 24 special board meeting.

According to KISD Board President Greg Schulte, the board held a Feb. 3 closed meeting that discussed an investigation of allegations made regarding improper communication.

The investigation concluded that one or more trustees—in varying degrees—violated the board code of ethics; violated board operating procedures; misled board officers and district personnel; did not provide all required communication after numerous requests to do so; did not follow legal guidance to have no communication with plaintiff’s representatives on pending litigation; and inappropriately handled confidential and legal information, Schulte said.

“Safety nets are in place to ensure this behavior does not occur,” Schulte said. “Regretfully, because of choices made by trustees sworn to act in the best interest of the district, these safety nets were disregarded—putting the district, district employees and potentially even those trustees at risk.”

Champagne was censured before being replaced as secretary by Position 1 Trustee Duke Keller, after he was nominated by Position 3 Trustee Ashley Vann. Keller, who is a candidate running for re-election in May, was elected with a majority vote by the board to the role of secretary during the Feb. 24 meeting.

Champagne had also been elected to a one-year term on the Texas Association of School Boards' board of directors. The board voted to replace her in that role with Schulte. The board also voted to censure Wilson, who holds Position 4.