Houston Chronicle by Jacob Carpenter Aug. 19, 2019
Lawyers for Houston ISD’s school board are seeking to stop the Texas Education Agency from replacing the district’s elected trustees following a state investigation into alleged misconduct, arguing the agency conducted a “one-sided investigation†that reached conclusions “unsupported by any credible evidence.â€
In an amended lawsuit filed Friday, lawyers for the nine-member board cite several ways in which agency leaders violated trustees’ rights and failed to fully investigate allegations of wrongdoing. The lawsuit comes two weeks after TEA investigators determined several trustees violated the Texas Open Meetings Act, improperly influenced district contracts and overstepped their governance role — allegations denied by the HISD board’s lawyers.
The 49-page complaint argues that TEA officials were determined from the outset of the inquiry to oust HISD’s school board, failed to fully investigate allegations and incorrectly applied the law to their findings. In addition, the lawsuit alleges the agency is violating federal civil rights laws by only replacing school boards in districts where a majority of residents are people of color.
“TEA intends to punish the district by replacing Houston ISD’s elected board of trustees with an unelected board of managers — a sanction that is unavailable under the law and facts of this case,†David Campbell, a lawyer hired by HISD’s school board, wrote in the complaint.
The lawsuit stems from a six-month investigation conducted by the TEA following complaints that five HISD board members violated the Texas Open Meetings Act in October 2018, when they unexpectedly voted to replace Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan. The investigation later expanded to include a review of possible violations of state laws pertaining to vendor contracts, as well as violations of district policies relating to proper governance procedures.
In a preliminary report earlier this month, TEA investigators determined the five board members met in back-to-back meetings on the same day with former HISD superintendent Abelardo Saavedra. Three days later, the five trustees voted to replace Lathan with Saavedra, a move rescinded the next week following public backlash.
Saavedra and three board members acknowledged to state investigators that they met in two separate groups, while trustees Diana Dávila and Sergio Lira denied such group meetings. TEA officials concluded Dávila and Lira made false statements to investigators. In an interview with the Houston Chronicle earlier this month, Dávila said she provided her best recollection to investigators, adding that “they wanted us to remember things that happened six, seven months prior to us being interviewed.†Lira has not commented on the findings.
More:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/education/article/HISD-board-fires-back-at-TEA-calls-investigation-14358555.php
