The Committee on School Initiatives of the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) convened on Thursday to discuss and vote on several updates to the state administrative and education codes.
Only three of the five members of the committee showed up to conduct the body’s business: Will Hickman (virtually), Julie Pickren, and L.J. Francis.
The other two members — Staci Childs and Rebecca Bell-Metereau — were not in attendance, but the committee had a quorum.
SBOE hearings and penalties were the first order of business, including a statute that penalizes publishers who violate the education code while doing business with public schools and charters. Another involved the certification criteria for independent hearing examiners.
“I think we definitely need to keep these rules,” said Francis.
The motion passed 3-0.
Next on the docket was a proposal to adjust requirements for teacher certification so there could be a specific testing exemption for aspiring educators that are deaf or hard of hearing. The proposal would have allowed applicants to be exempt from a test portion that requires auditory hearing.
Francis motioned to take no action on the item. Pickren seconded. All three members present voted in favor of Francis’ motion.
During discussions over proposals dealing with teacher and library certification by the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC), Pickren raised the issue of whether the agency was providing any training or guidance as to the Texas state law banning obscene or pornographic materials in public schools.
She asked Emily Garcia, TEA associate commissioner for educator preparation, certification, and enforcement, “Have you revoked any certificates based on pornographic materials with children?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Garcia replied.
“Do you know about how many?” asked Pickren.
“No ma’am,” Garcia said.
Pickren asked her to provide that information to the committee. Garcia said she would.
Later, Pickren raised the issue of how SBEC defines diversity and whether its definition includes drag performers, making reference to “drag time story hour.” She also questioned Garcia on whether SBEC considers the Texas Library Association an appropriate partner for public schools. Garcia said she did not know the answers to Pickren’s questions but that she would get them.
Pickren then motioned to veto the proposal regarding librarian and reading specialist certification. Francis voted with her. Hickman opposed Pickren’s motion, which prevailed.
The committee later heard from the executive director of the Texas School Safety Center (TxSSC), Kathy Martinez-Prather. She gave them a briefing on the state’s efforts to secure school campuses, discussing how the agency has been conducting intruder audits across the state.
“We’re looking at those four areas, we’re evaluating if the inspector can gain unauthorized access, if the district is conducting its weekly door sweeps, we’re checking all exterior doors, and if they have a policy to lock classroom doors,” Martinez-Prather said.
Hickman asked her what resources or training are being provided to state school safety auditors with regards to assessing risks or threats from students or staff, people who are already on campus.
“Every campus in the state of Texas has to have a threat assessment team made available to them, and part of that training is really looking at how to identify concerning behavior … They’re doing well,” Martinez-Prather stated.
Pickren inquired about how the TxSSC’s intruder audits work, specifically asking if and how parents or the public are notified if a campus fails some part of their audit.
Martinez-Prather explained how administrators and superintendents are notified and are given 45 days to take corrective actions and receive additional training. School boards are then notified of the situation, however, she said that TxSSC does not recommend trustees publicly identify the campus or the findings of the audit so that vulnerabilities are not exposed.
Pickren expressed that “as a parent,” she hopes there can be more discussion on parent notification but she acknowledged there is a balance to be struck so campuses are not identified as “penetrable soft targets.”
Childs arrived near the end of the committee meeting, apologizing to TEA staff and her colleagues. Hickman had to get offline. Childs and Martinez-Prather then discussed how bullying can be a trigger for internal threat assessments and how teachers are trained to respond to bullying incidents.
The committee meeting adjourned shortly after that.
