A now-discarded plan to split Keller ISD caused a stir. Lawmakers now want clear rules on how to divide districts.

Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

---

Lawmakers discussed a bill Tuesday that would create new rules for school districts that want to split into smaller entities, months after a controversial, now-abandoned plan to break up Keller ISD raised questions about whether the district could do so without voters’ input.

House Bill 5089, authored by Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, would set rules for how a school district could split off from an existing one. Under the bill, 20% of registered voters in each of the proposed new districts would have to sign a petition. If that threshold is met, an election would be held, and voters would decide whether to approve the split. The State Board of Education would oversee the election.

The Texas House’s public education committee held a hearing Tuesday to gather public testimony but didn’t decide whether to advance the bill for a full vote on the House floor.

Much of Tuesday’s discussion focused on Keller ISD, which sparked a controversy when news broke earlier this year that some board trustees were considering splitting up the district as a way to respond to their financial challenges. An initial proposal was drafted without any public input, sparking concerns that the split would unfairly favor one of the new districts. In March, Keller ISD leaders ultimately dropped the plans.

Barbara Brewer, a resident of North Fort Worth, a part of Keller ISD, testified in favor of the bill and of requiring public input before such decisions. She shared concerns that Keller ISD's split would have unfairly harmed her area, leaving North Fort Worth without resources and facilities that had been paid for with decades’ worth of taxpayer money, like the district’s varsity football stadium.

Joni Shaw Smith, a trustee and secretary of the Keller ISD board, also supported the bill. He described how, during a closed-door meeting in December 2024, the proposal to split the district was introduced.

“To say I was shocked was an understatement,” Smith said. “It wasn't part of any long-range plan in public discussion, and it wasn't even a thought that had ever crossed my mind. My immediate question was simple: When will this go to a vote? And the response was very shocking. It won't. We'll pass a resolution in January. At that moment, the realization hit me.”

Smith warned that splitting Keller ISD without a public vote “would fracture our communities,” and said moving forward without voter approval would have hurt residents in the new districts.

One of the key concerns coming from community members was that the lack of clear rules on how school districts can split apart raised the question of whether school boards could make such decisions on their own, without a public vote, potentially leaving residents without a say in the matter.

Community members also worried that splitting Keller ISD in two would deepen economic inequalities, creating one richer district while leaving the second one with fewer resources.

Not everyone supported the legislation. John Birt, Vice President of the Keller ISD Board of Trustees, testified against the bill, arguing that putting the State Board of Education in charge of administering the election would shift power away from local officials.

“The current bill, as it's being proposed … usurps two levels of local control, the school district board of trustees and the county commissioners’ court,” Birt said. “Republicans typically support local control, and HB 5089 does the exact opposite, by transferring local control to the SBOE. Are representatives really saying that local decisions should be made in Austin?”

Responding to concerns that a district split could unfairly distribute resources, Birt said that was not the motivation behind the proposal.

“People have been making this out to be a poor versus rich decision. It never entered the mind,” he added.

---

Tickets are on sale now for the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Texas’ breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov. 13–15 in downtown Austin. Get tickets before May 1 and save big! TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.