The news comes after the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office confirmed it had received a complaint about Keller ISD’s split speech.
Keller, Texas — The Texas Department of Education confirmed Monday it is investigating Keller ISD’s “governance” complaints following a controversial proposal to split the district.
The proposed split will divide the district along Highway 377, essentially separating students living in Keller from students living in Fort Worth.
In a letter sent Monday obtained by the WFAA, Tea said, “actions related to new school district detachments and creation are local decisions and do not fall within the scope of the agency,” but was considering other reported concerns.
“After reviewing your complaints, Tea decided that it should review reported concerns about district governance and referred this issue to the Compliance Review Unit (CRU).”
Two Keller ISD Trustees – Jonichaus Smith and Chelsea Kelly said they were first to hear about the proposal to split the district during the enforcement session of the School Board’s December 19 meeting. The board’s agenda on December 19th did not include mention of the proposal to divide the district. Bill Aresher, a lawyer for the Texas Freedom Foundation, previously told the WFAA that discussing the issue personally was a violation of Texas’s Open Meeting Act.
In January, the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office confirmed that it had received complaints about internal discussions about the possibility of splitting the district. Keller Police also confirmed that the department has received a report on allegations of violation of the Texas Open Meeting Act. The report was forwarded to the Tarrant County District Attorney’s good-nature investigator unit, which handles allegations against elected officials.
Members of the Fort Worth Homeowners Association filed lawsuits against several members of the Keller ISD Board of Education.
