TEA commissioner to announce HISD transition back to elected control by end of next school year

SUGAR LAND, Texas (KTRK) -- From consequences with student walkouts, to the end of HISD's takeover, ABC13 caught up with the head of Texas Education Agency.

TEA COMMISSIONER INSISTS HE'S NOT POLITICIZING TAKEOVERS

This week, the TEA released guidelines for districts regarding student walkouts. Protests that have popped up across the state following ICE agent incidents.

The guidelines list consequences that can come to teachers and a district if the walkout is facilitated by teachers and staff.

TEA Commissioner Mike Morath spoke at a Fort Bend Regional Partnership event on Friday. ABC13 asked him about the new guidelines.

"What we don't want is a taxpayer funded institution pushing students in one ideology or another," Morath said. "Whichever direction. That sort of politics should stop at the school door."

Morath was appointed by Republican Governor Greg Abbott. We asked Morath if the protests were over a conservative ideology would the guidelines have still be released.

"This is not about what the political ideology is at all," Morath explained.

While teachers could lose their license, and districts could face a takeover, Morath said he doesn't want to stop free speech of students if they lead the walkout.

However, it doesn't mean he says they should avoid punishment either.

"Students who do this of their own volition, without the support of the administration, that's a different thing," Morath said. "That'll happen of course. If a student leaves the classroom and it's an unexcused absence there are typically consequences for that."

MORATH SAYS THE HISD TAKEOVER TRANSITION PERIOD IS STILL ON TRACK

Another topic ABC13 asked Morath about was HISD's takeover. Nearly three years ago, the state removed elected trustees and appointed a board of managers.

Last summer, Morath extended the takeover to last until June 2027. On Friday, he told us the timeline for the transition process is still in place, and he said law prevents him from extending it further.

"This was always meant to be a short intervention to help reform so that it served better the students that it was not serving before," Morath said. "By all measures that appears to be working."

Morath was vague about what the timeline will look like. The TEA said it'll be upwards of a three year process where local electoral control is returned. Once the transition begins, the TEA said several managers on the board will be replaced with elected trustees yearly until the full board is entirely made up of elected trustees.

Those board members Morath said could chose to keep Superintendent Mike Miles, or remove him. "Whoever the board is choses the superintendent," Morath explained. "When you return to a locally electoral board, if they want to make any changes to the superintendency, then they can change the superintendency."

TEACHER UNION LEADERS REMAIN SKEPTICAL THE TRANSITION PROCESS IS COMING

After Morath told ABC13 the transition process is still on schedule, we reached out to the teacher's union.

Houston Federation of Teacher Union President Jackie Anderson said they're still not aware of the details. "We don't have anything in writing because they have not been very transparent with how this would look like or how this would occur," Anderson said.

Anderson said it's time for local electoral control to return, but isn't sure it'll start next year.

"It's been utter chaos," Anderson said. "We could hear something today and tomorrow it'll be something else."

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