After the Texas Education Agency’s controversial takeover of Houston Independent School District in 2023 (control was recently extended to 2027), Beaumont Independent School District now faces the same fate.
“I am very disappointed with this decision,” Dr. Shannon Allen said at a BISD news conference Thursday night, adding that the announcement of the acquisition was unexpected.
“This action was triggered by law due to consecutive unacceptable ratings at two campuses, MLK Middle School and Fehl-Price Elementary School,” Allen said. “Although King Elementary School has closed in 2024 and Fehl-Price Elementary School has been operated by Third Future Schools for the past two years… the commissioner decided to move forward with this appointment.”
As part of the TEA takeover, the agency will appoint a governing board and a custodian to replace the superintendent and elected school board.
BISD Community and Media Relations Director Jackie Simien told the Chron that Allen received a letter from the TEA earlier Thursday containing the formal decision and spoke directly with Commissioner Mike Morath.
“We have been making progress and this year I shared with the community that 16 of our 22 campuses have improved overall accountability ratings. Effort and work matters,” Allen said. “At the same time, we recognize that every school is not improving fast enough.”
Simien told the Chron that BISD has 30 days to appeal the decision.
As part of Thursday’s news conference, Allen said she would discuss the opportunity to appeal with the board.
TEA took control of Beaumont ISD in 2014 amid a financial scandal and funding shortages that left the district in a budget emergency, according to Beaumont Enterprise. Control returned to the region in 2020.
Allen said BISD will “continue to do its work” despite the announcement.
“The best thing for kids is to stay focused,” Allen said. “I really hope we keep that in mind as we go through the next few weeks and months.”
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This article was originally published on Texas seizes another school district in surprising power move.
