Keller ISD considers budget; split won't generate obvious budget savings

When Keller ISD's board of trustees first brought up the idea of splitting the district in two, they talked up the serious financial constraints Keller ISD faced.

Board Vice-President John Birt even said that if parents didn't support the district split, the financial consequences would be apparent as he would direct the superintendent to look at cuts.

"I'm going to ask they she start looking at what campuses are going to close, what campuses are going to get consolidated, and what teachers are going to be out of a job because this money doesn't fall out of thin air," said Birt on January 16th.

Later that same month, a report on the impact of splitting the district revealed there would be no financial savings or impact from splitting the district.

After the revelation, parents and the two board members who have been against the split continued to ask in Thursday night's meeting why the proposal is still on the table.

There was never an answer from the board members.

NBC 5 asked for an interview with Board President Charles Randklev to shed light on the discrepancies, but we have not received a response.

We also asked the district itself to answer the question, and they told us they had no response and no timeline on when we could get one.

Thursday night's meeting was a planned budget meeting where parents hoped the cost savings might finally be explained.

"They refuse to answer this one question, and the reality is there is nothing else to talk about, right? Because nothing can be done if we don't have all the facts and the most important of all the facts, especially when it's being billed as a cost cutting or cost saving measure is the costs.  We don't know any of the costs," said Laney Hawes, a Keller ISD parent.

The board meeting did not discuss potential financial impacts of the split but did talk about passing a budget that would increase staffing ratios and close a wellness clinic but prioritize a 1% raise for teachers.

John Allison, Chief Operations Officer at Keller ISD, did explain that his calculations show that closing campuses, like other districts have done across North Texas, won't make a significant impact in the budget. He said the savings just weren't there.

However, interim Keller ISD Superintendent Corey Wilson said school closures could be on the table in future years.

NBC 5 did speak one-on-one with Allison about the financial impact of splitting Keller ISD. The report that Keller ISD commissioned showed no additional money would be generated by splitting the district.

We asked Allison how splitting the district would help the finances of Keller ISD and how it would generate additional cash. He told us it would not generate additional money.

Later, we were contacted by a Keller ISD spokesman who added that, "If the districts were structured differently, from an administrative perspective there could be some cost savings realized."

Any ideas on the amount of cost savings and whether it makes a case for splitting the district is just unknown.

While splitting the district was not on the agenda at Thursday night's meeting, more than 50 parents showed up and gave the board an earful about it.

Board member Chelsea Kelly, who is against dividing Keller ISD, even made a motion asking board members to add splitting the district to the agenda so they could address and answer the parents' questions. The board voted that motion down.

Board members did meet behind closed doors about two lawsuits they face over the proposed split.