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It’s been a while since we’ve had news from Dallas-Fort Worth because your humble correspondent has had her first run-in with Covid. It’s been a doozy. Next week we should be back to our regular coverage, but this week I’m concentrating on one of the weirdest ongoing stories happening here in the Metroplex: the upcoming breakup of Keller ISD.
Keller ISD covers the eastern part of Fort Worth and the suburb of Keller. The district is highly regarded but, like every other district in Texas, facing demographic and financial challenges exacerbated by the choices of our state government. I missed the beginning of this story because I don’t hang around on Facebook enough, and certainly not in the parts where stakeholders in Keller ISD spend time, but the story is that certain members of Keller’s seven-member board decided they wanted to split the poorer western side of the district from the eastern, suburban side of the district, with the dividing line being Old Denton Road. This was all happening in November and December, when we were all busy with other things.
Somehow, this has become an actual plan that appears to be happening. Keller’s web site refers to this project as “reshaping” and has a proposed map for the split. Some of the trustees were blindsided by the reveal of the proposed split back in January. The superintendent, who had only joined the district in December 2023, offered her resignation and the board named an interim superintendent in their January 30 meeting.
Meanwhile, there’s a lot of opposition. At the meeting on the 30th, 200 speakers signed up and the majority were against the split. The Star-Telegram has editorialized against the split. Republican State Rep. Nate Schatzline, the pastor of Mercy Culture, is open to the plan but is concerned it will drive down property values if the new school district isn’t as high-performing as Keller ISD; he would represent much of the new district. Democratic Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons, whom regular readers will know as a foil of Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare, is also against the split.
So what is going on here? One piece of it is almost certainly the public interest lawsuit against Keller’s at-large trustee election system. I’ve written about these before but the gist of it is that Brewer Storefront, the public advocacy arm of a big law firm, has been threatening to sue districts around the state for at-large trustee elections. In the case of Keller ISD, they have May elections and that’s also a factor. These two rules make it harder for voters of color to have their say, which is illegal under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (to the extent that still applies under the current administration). Brewer is now pushing to stop the split as well.
But the other rumor I’ve heard and can’t confirm is that the trustees behind the original split discussions–whom I can only guess at by seeing who’s against it, because it’s not them–are your bog-standard reactionary school board haters and the split is happening for obvious reasons. I find this theory somewhat compelling because it fits with everything else happening in Texas, in North Texas school boards, and because the start of these discussions in November and December aligns with a time when it became clear the Justice Department wouldn’t do anything about resegregation of school districts. This quote from an opponent of the split makes that clear:
The saddest thing of all was when a student said to my son I hope they split the district so that I can go to school with all white kids
Some further reading on this story:
- The best summary is from the Dallas Observer: Keller ISD Splitting Drama Is Far From Over.
- Star-Telegram: Keller board driving school split doesn’t represent community. Here’s how to fix it | Opinion. William Brewer III of the Brewer Storefront puts his $0.02 in an op-ed.
- DMN: Keller ISD’s proposal to split district to save money is a head-scratcher. From the full editorial board.
- Star-Telegram: Bravo to these Tarrant leaders standing for voters on Keller ISD. Where are the rest? | Opinion. From their editorial board.
- Star-Telegram: Keller ISD students walk out to ‘let their voices be heard’ on proposal to split district. Also at the DMN: ‘We are one’: Keller students protest proposal to split schools and the Fort Worth Report: ‘We will not be divided’: Keller ISD students walk out over proposal to split district. This was last Friday.
- Powerful Fort Worth law firm enlisted to help neighborhood to fight Keller school split. It’s Kelly Hart & Hallman, who have power broker clients like members of the Bass family, the city of Fort Worth, and American Airlines.
- Nonprofit supporting Keller school district cancels annual gala over split debate. “The Keller Education Foundation has been working in the district for the past 20 years. It gave out $120,000 in grant funding in 2024 to help teachers offer innovative approaches to school curriculum.”