The decision to oust Fagen came about four months after HISD trustees voted to propose the termination of Fagen’s contract. Fagen appealed the board’s decision to the Texas Education Agency, which resulted in a three-day hearing spanning more than 30 hours over Oct. 31, Nov. 1 and Nov. 6.
In a Nov. 25 report detailing the findings of the hearing, independent hearing examiner Karen Egbuna sided with the district and recommended that trustees terminate Fagen’s contract.
While board members have already initiated the process of finding a new superintendent, Fagen said she will appeal Egbuna’s recommendation to TEA Commissioner Mike Morath.
“The recommendation is just fundamentally flawed,” Fagen said to Community Impact after the Nov. 26 meeting. “There was a lot of stuff said in there that was never proven. There was no evidence with it.”
The overview
Among the chief arguments presented by the district’s attorneys was the notion that Fagen’s relationship with her husband—former HISD Athletic Director Troy Kite—adversely affected the district’s ability to fairly respond to a Title IX complaint filed against Kite in 2023. The complaint alleged the common use of sexually explicit comments within the department.
However, Fagen’s attorneys argued she was a nonfactor in the proceedings because she recused herself from all matters related to the Title IX complaint in May 2023.
During the hearing, board President Chris Parker testified she believed Fagen acted inappropriately when she responded to a records request stemming from a TEA complaint that included a request for Kite’s employment records.
Fagen testified she was unaware the TEA complaint had anything to do with Kite’s Title IX investigation. However, Egbuna said she didn’t find Fagen’s testimony credible.
“Dr. Fagen’s misrepresentation to Ms. Parker was deliberate and against the best interests of the district,” Egbuna wrote in the Nov. 25 recommendation.
Egbuna detailed an additional incident in which Fagen received notice of a complaint filed with the Texas Health and Human Services Civil Rights Office alleging retaliation against a district employee for their participation in the Title IX investigation.
Per Egbuna’s report, Fagen waited over a month to inform the board about the complaint despite being previously directed to forward all matters related to the Title IX complaint to the district’s legal team within 24 hours of receipt.
The impact
The district’s legal team also argued Fagen’s relationship with Kite led to at least $1.3 million in legal fees related to the investigation.
During the hearing, multiple trustees testified Fagen’s relationship with Kite necessitated the hiring of an outside law firm to investigate the Title IX complaint to avoid the appearance of any real or perceived conflicts of interest. Fagen testified she had nothing to do with the decision to acquire outside counsel because she recused herself from all matters related to the investigation. Fagen also testified she believed Terry Perkins, the district’s in-house Title IX coordinator, would have been able to complete the investigation without bias.
However, Parker disagreed, testifying she believed Perkins’ longstanding personal relationship with Kite would have prevented him from fairly investigating the complaint. Fagen countered, testifying Perkins and Kite never formed a relationship outside of work.
Egbuna sided with the district in her report, noting a potential conflict of interest because any employee tasked with investigating the matter still fell under Fagen’s supervision.
In her report, Egbuna ultimately determined Fagen had lost the trust of a majority of the board, which she said constituted a good cause for her termination.
“Fagen’s conduct has destroyed the trust the board of trustees had for her as Superintendent,” Egbuna said in the report.
What they're saying
- “I thought this was going to be an opportunity for justice or a day in court, ... and it wasn’t. That’s not how it turned out, so now we’re moving on to the next level of appeal.” —Elizabeth Fagen, former Humble ISD superintendent
- “If the STAAR scores were down, we would have put Dr. Fagen on an improvement plan or make that a priority, but there is no improvement plan for ethics and a lack of candor.” —Chris Parker, Humble ISD board president
TEA Media Relations Specialist Melissa Holmes said Fagen’s appeal to the commissioner will entail a review of the evidence presented at the initial hearing as well as any procedural issues that may have occurred.
Holmes said the commissioner will issue a ruling within 30 days of receiving Fagen’s appeal.
Stay tuned
After the vote to terminate Fagen’s contract, board members approved the appointment of Deputy Superintendent Roger Brown to serve as interim superintendent while the district conducts a search for Fagen’s replacement.
While trustee Martina Lemond Dixon proposed hiring a firm to assist with the superintendent search, the item did not gain the votes necessary to be included on the board’s Dec. 10 meeting agenda.
Trustees voted 5-2 in favor of naming Brown as the finalist for the vacant superintendent position during a special-called Dec. 17 meeting.
HISD Chief Communications Officer Jamie Mount said the board will now need to wait at least 21 days before trustees can vote to formally appoint Brown as the district's new superintendent.
