Texas Supreme Court clears way for state board of education to… – The Texas Tribune | NutSocia

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The Texas Supreme Court on Friday cleared the way for the state to potentially take control of the Houston Independent School District, which state education officials said has been plagued by mismanagement and low academic performance at one of its high schools.

Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath first took over the district’s school board in 2019, in response to allegations of trustee misconduct and years of poor performance at Phillis Wheatley High School.

Houston sued ISD, and in 2020 a Travis County District Judge stopped Morath’s plan by issuing a restraining order. The injunction was upheld by an appeals court, but the TEA took the case to the state’s highest court, where the agency’s lawyers argued last year that a 2021 law — which went into effect after the case first went to court — was used had been – allow a state to take over.

The Texas Supreme Court sided with TEA on Friday, throwing out the injunction, saying it was not appropriate under the new law. The decision could allow TEA to install new school board members, who could then vote to end the litigation.

TEA told The Texas Tribune that it is reviewing the court decision. The agency did not immediately respond to questions about whether it plans to install a new school board immediately.

The Texas Supreme Court also remanded the year-long case to a trial court.

Houston ISD attorneys have previously said they would welcome a return to a trial court for the injunction to be reviewed under the updated law, adding that the county is ready to hear a case for a permanent one since 2020 to make a temporary provision.

Houston ISD Superintendent Millard House II said in a news release Friday that the county’s legal team is reviewing the court’s ruling. He also pointed to the school district’s recent improvements, including at Phillis Whitley High School. The historic school received a passing grade from TEA last year — like the majority of the district’s schools — for the first time in nearly a decade, prompting a celebration at the school.

“There is still work to be done, but we are excited by the progress we have made as a district and look forward to the work ahead,” House said in the press release.

Judith Cruz’s time as Houston ISD Trustee and School Board President was consumed by this struggle. She was elected trustee just before Morath’s takeover attempt, and her term as president ended Thursday, the night before the Texas Supreme Court decision.

Hours after the ruling, she told the Tribune it was too early to determine if or how TEA would implement an acquisition — and how county officials would respond to such a change. She said she hopes any changes will disrupt students in the district as little as possible. Houston ISD trustees will continue to serve as elected representatives for their community, she said.

“Whether elected or appointed, the focus should always be on the children,” Cruz said.

Houston ISD trustee Daniela Hernandez, the current president of the board, said the community generally supported elected rather than appointed representatives, citing opposition TEA saw from native parents when the state agency first announced the acquisition tried.

She added that both the board and the school district have changed for the better since 2019.

“We’re on an uptrend and we can keep improving,” Hernandez said.

TEA has argued that state law gives the commissioner the power to temporarily appoint board members in school districts that have five consecutive years of poor academic performance and districts where a state-appointed conservator has been monitoring and evaluating their performance for more than two years appoint.

At Houston ISD, conservator Doris Delaney had overseen Kashmere High School since 2016 after the school failed to meet the state’s academic standards for seven straight years. Morath hired Delaney to evaluate the district’s resource allocations to Kashmere and the management of school education. Morath expanded Delaney’s authority to the district level in 2019.

When the case came before the Court of Appeals in late 2020, Houston ISD argued that Delaney failed to meet the two-year district-level conservator requirement because her role in the district began as a campus-level conservator. During hearings in the state Supreme Court, TEA attorneys argued that the distinction between these two levels of conservatorship was removed by the 2021 Education Code updates.

As attorneys reviewed the ruling, Senator Paul Bettencourt — the Houston Republican who drafted Senate Bill 1365, the 2021 law that updated the Education Code — hailed Friday’s court ruling.

“This Supreme Court decision is a much-needed step in overturning the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and returning the case to Legislature intent for a restorer to take additional steps to help improve public education in school districts,” he said.

On the other hand, some education viewers and advocates said a state takeover would hurt the district.

“It’s going to be a long road for HISD, but I hope they don’t give up the fight because that would save our district,” said Jackie Anderson, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers, the district’s largest teachers’ union. “I hope the district will take whatever avenues it has to allow us to retain our democratically elected board.”

Community Voices for Public Education, a local education advocacy group, found that government takeovers are disproportionately used against school districts with significant populations of black students and often degrade school experiences.

The organization added that TEA’s potential acquisition “would be the first in the country based solely on test results.”

“We are calling on everyone to oppose this government takeover and tell their elected officials to end this scam and stand up for our children,” said Ruth Kravetz, the group’s co-founder.