TEA Announces Takeover Of Three School Districts

Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath mailed letters on November 6 to three independent school districts – Houston, Shepard, and Snyder – informing them the state would be taking over the districts due to poor academic performance.

In the case of Houston ISD (HISD), Morath wrote of his plans to appoint a new superintendent and a board of governance to replace the elected school board.

He cited a “failure of governance” and poor academic performance of Wheatley High School as reasons for the decision. HISD is the state’s largest school district and comprises more than 270 schools and student enrollment of more than 200,000. Morath wrote Shepard and Snyder officials that he would appoint boards of governance to replace their elected school boards.

A 2015 state law requires the Texas Education Agency commissioner to sanction a district in which a school has failed more than four consecutive years. Wheatley received its seventh consecutive “improvement requirement” rating this year.

Snyder Junior High School and Shepherd Elementary and Intermediate schools failed for a fifth consecutive year.

State conservators will attend board meetings, take control of district operations, and report to the state monthly. District officials have two weeks to challenge the decision, according to TEA officials.

A state investigation report recently recommended Morath replace the HISD school board based on its findings the school board violated Texas open meetings law, exerted undue influence on contract awards, and acted as individuals on district matters without communicating with fellow board members.

HISD is suing the state to prevent a takeover and is seeking a federal injunction to prevent state control regarding the selection of a new superintendent, replacing elected board members, or taking other actions as a result of the state investigation.

This article was originally published by Strategic Partnerships Inc.