Conroe ISD Contracts Controversial Provider to Replace District Services
A deep dive into TASB and the questionable organizations that may soon be replacing them in Conroe ISD.
The Conroe ISD school board has been quietly working to review and enter into agreements with Texans for Excellence in Education (TEE), a rather new name within Texas public education. Within the last few board meetings, we have seen agenda items and a presentation regarding their engagement with TEE representatives:
Board Meeting, January 23, 2025:
Receive Information Regarding Texans for Excellence in Education and Consider and Possibly Take Action to become a Member of Texans for Excellence in Education (Requested by President Odenweller)
Vote: Passed unanimously
Board Meeting, February 18, 2025:
Authorize the Board President to Negotiate and Execute Documents Related to Hiring Board Legal Representation (more on this one later)
Vote: Passed unanimously
Authorize the Board President to Negotiate and Execute Agreements with Texans for Excellence in Education (TEE)
Vote: Passed unanimously
You can watch TEE’s January presentation to the Conroe ISD Board below. I recommend you watch at 1.25-1.5x speed as this is one hour long (3:04:12 - 3:56:00). Timestamp starts at 3:04.
And as reported in the Houston Chronicle:
Conroe ISD leaders will start a free trial with the newly-formed advocacy organization Texans for Excellence in Education as they explore an alternative to the long-standing Texas Association of School Boards for training, policy guidance and support.
The trial membership ends in August.
“We want to give kids the best chance at education, so they have the best chance at life,” TEE Executive Director Hava Armstrong said during the board’s Jan. 23 meeting. “Let’s make this a neutral environment that is focused on education, on exactly what you send your kids to school for everyday. Get those distractions out of the way and students will flourish.”
There is a great deal of history to review before we begin to understand TEE and its recent activities, so grab some coffee, get comfortable, and let’s begin.
This write-up is long. If you prefer a quick recap, scroll to the bottom to read the TLDR summary.
Getting Started
Similar to a growing number of school districts, Conroe ISD has begun the discussion of phasing out existing district support services in favor of TEE. Other school districts include Carroll ISD, Princeton, Katy, Sherman, Keller, Brenham, and potentially more.
But why?
TEE is viewed as a potential replacement for the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB), which as it states in the name, is an association of school boards. TASB provides a wide range of support services for Texas school districts, as we’ll discuss later.
Conroe ISD contracts with TASB today, as do 99.9% of Texas school districts.
TASB is the provider of key support services for Texas public school districts, and they have been the ‘800lb gorilla’ in this space for over 75 years. Their dominance is not because it is a ruthlessly run for-profit business monopoly, but because it was built as a non-profit ‘board of boards’, enabling school districts across Texas to collaborate and unify on the mission to promote public education.
TASB is simply the only school board association to effectively build a coalition and community to provide these services at scale.
The Texas Association of School Boards was established in 1949 — a landmark year for public education in Texas. After years of neglect due to the Depression and World War II, schools in the Lone Star State were finally the focus of needed reform that year via the Gilmer-Aikin laws enacted by the Texas Legislature. The same laws established the Texas Education Agency as the state’s administrative agent to supervise the public school system.
Leading up to that year of change, a small group of school trustees in the Houston area had been meeting to discuss the formation of a state association of local school board members. They wanted local school boards across the state to be able to share experiences and information with each other and to form a unified voice that supported and promoted public education.
In November 1949, their dreams were realized. Approximately 100 trustees gathered in Fort Worth to establish the new nonprofit member organization that would initially serve 26 school districts. Today, TASB serves nearly all 1,025 school boards in Texas. With headquarters located in Austin, the outreach of the Association spans every region of the state.
I recommend you scroll the TASB history page of their website. It is very informative on how they have grown to support public schools over decades, including the development of their vast number of programs.
However…
If TASB is such an important organization for Texas school districts, then why have they been under fire in recent years, and why would school districts be considering leaving their TASB membership behind in favor of something else?
Over the last decade there has been a movement to uproot TASB due to a difference of opinion on its advocacy efforts (among other complaints). The most recent criticism is that TASB advocates ‘agendas’ that promote progressive ideas, such as supporting laws or providing guidance in areas like transgender student issues.
This reached a breaking point after TASB released an update to its Legal FAQ titled ‘Legal Issues Related to Transgender Students’, which was provided to school districts as guidance on how school boards could manage or implement policies related to transgender students. It is largely based on protections provided by Title IX, prior to the second Trump administration. You can download a copy of the TASB FAQ here:
Here is an AI summary of this document:
The document addresses legal and policy considerations for school districts regarding transgender students. It emphasizes the importance of creating safe and inclusive environments while complying with federal and state laws. Key topics include:
Definitions: Provides key terms such as gender identity, gender expression, and transgender, to aid understanding of transgender issues.
Recognition of Transgender Students: Schools should respect students' gender identity, including their choice of clothing, names, and pronouns, unless prohibited by law. Transgender students are entitled to protection from bullying and harassment under federal law.
Title IX Compliance: Highlights that discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation falls under Title IX protections against sex-based discrimination.
School Records: Discusses handling requests for changing names and gender on school records. Schools should balance legal requirements and students' rights.
Facilities Access: Explores rights related to using restrooms and locker rooms corresponding to a student's gender identity and provides suggestions for case-by-case resolutions.
Participation in Activities: Reviews considerations for field trips, sports participation, and other activities segregated by sex.
Parental Involvement: Addresses scenarios where a parent's views on gender identity differ from the student's, emphasizing the need for caution and collaboration.
Privacy Concerns: Outlines the importance of protecting transgender students' privacy, particularly regarding their gender identity and records.
Legal Resources: Provides guidance on where districts can find additional information, including national resources and federal agency recommendations.
Our write-up today is not meant to debate transgender policies, so we will not be diving into TASB’s FAQ. What I will say is that after reading the policy in full, it appears to me as any other legal FAQ that an attorney would provide to its school board. None of it is binding, and the information is provided as recommendations and guidance if the need arises. It references state and federal regulations, current legal cases, previous case law, and other “it depends” legal jargon.
The one item related to this FAQ I cannot resolve is that it had been published by TASB years before (2015), with periodic updates in 2018, 2021, and 2022. But it only became a hot topic after January 2023, which you can see here as an example:
Another quote from Rep. Brian Harrison:
“It’s bad enough that harmful woke ideology is being pushed on Texas students over the objection of their parents, but worse that local elected officials are forcing those same parents to fund it with their tax dollars. That must end,” said Harrison. “I appreciate my colleagues joining me in fighting to stop the continued weaponization of our constituents’ tax dollars against them.”
Interestingly, TASB’s Legal FAQ is no longer available on the TASB website (or any document related to the topic of transgender people), even though it is referenced on their ‘TASB Myth Buster’ site.
Here are TASB’s rebuttals to these complaints:
Myth: "TASB advocates against parents on LGBTQ+ issues."
This is false.
In January 2023, TASB Legal Services updated its Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on Transgender Students to reflect a case out of the Federal Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. This FAQ resource was not a new document but one that had been online since 2015 and has been periodically updated as new law becomes available.
Contrary to criticism, this FAQ on Transgender Students fully aligns to current law and does not encourage school districts to obscure information from parents.
In fact, the FAQ does the following:
It encourages districts to work closely with parents and students to find individualized, reasonable solutions that protect students’ safety, privacy, and wellbeing in the educational environment.
It cites the Texas Attorney General’s guidance about parental rights twice in the document.
It cites and repeats the law on reporting child abuse verbatim, clearly noting that “a person having reasonable cause to believe that a child's physical or mental health or welfare has been adversely affected by abuse or neglect by any person must immediately make a report as provided by Texas Family Code chapter 261.”
It fully aligns with Texas University Interscholastic League (UIL) rules and the “Save Girls Sports Act.” TASB’s legal resource information at the relevant reference policy clearly says that a student must participate in an interscholastic athletic competition that is designated for the biological sex stated on the student’s birth certificate.
And, when in doubt, it encourages district officials to seek legal advice.
In short, this FAQ was designed to help school attorneys and district policy administrators understand legal and compliance issues related to the complex and evolving area of law surrounding transgender students. This document doesn’t direct school districts to adopt any policies or take any position on this topic but is intended to help school districts minimize legal risk that could result in costly taxpayer-funded lawsuits.
Myth: "TASB advocates men be allowed in girls’ bathrooms."
This is false.
Nowhere in any TASB materials, documents, or trainings does TASB advise school districts to allow men in girls’ bathrooms. As noted, TASB’s Legal FAQ on Transgender Students addresses how school officials can respond if a child and the child’s parents come to the school and ask about access to restroom facilities. The FAQ says school officials should first talk to the parents and try to make safe, private, and separate arrangements for the child.
Those who repeat this false claim are clearly trying to provoke a narrative that has no basis in reality. In its nearly 75-year history, TASB has been nothing but protective of public schoolchildren and public education. TASB remains committed to strongly countering distorted and false attacks on its image and reputation.
Fallout
It is clear that TASB is on the defensive on the topic of transgender students, whether they meant to take a ‘political’ position or not. The Texas legislature and media machine has since been increasingly hostile to TASB’s existence:
Texas Senator Calls Out Texas Association of School Boards
Lawmakers Urge All School Districts to Leave Texas Association of School Boards
Texas Association of School Boards Pushes ‘Transgender’ Restroom Policies
Taxpayer-funded Lobbying Org Pays Massive Salaries
$113K Funneled Into Legislator's Pocket Via Taxpayer-funded Lobbying Payouts?
Interestingly, you can find many of TASB’s criticism coming from just a few websites, one of which is the Texas Scorecard, the source for all the links above.
There is an ongoing investigation by the Texas Observer that has focused on the politization of public schools in Texas, and the individuals behind Texas Scorecard is a key component of it. TEE is referenced as part of this effort.
That fight has landed squarely in districts like Grapevine-Colleyville, where the “classical social and emotional learning” policy that Davis reviewed for the Grapevine-Colleyville school board in 2022 was eventually adopted by the conservative majority, instating, among other things, a total ban on employees engaging in any discussion of what the district defines as “gender fluidity.”
That same policy has since been promoted to other schools by Texans for Excellence in Education (TEE), an organization with ties to Monty Bennett, a billionaire funder who has donated to several school board candidates and PACs.
The Observer reviewed two different versions of the “classical social and emotional learning” policy featured on the TEE website and identified two people credited as authors: Ali Williams, an employee of Davis, and Tony McDonald, general counsel for Texas Scorecard, a right-wing website funded largely by West Texas oil billionaires.
TASB
Before we dive further into TEE, let’s take a step back and review more on how TASB works and where it fits into this story.
TASB Structure
TASB is a non-profit school board association, governed by a 40-member Board of Directors, which consists of school board members who represent different regions across the state. The idea is that TASB is a collaboration of school board trustees, who all vote on the direction of the organization. It is a collaborative entity, a “board of boards”, bringing together representatives from school districts all across Texas to advocate for combined interests in public education as well as provide relevant services that school districts need.
Daily TASB operations are led by an executive team, also responsible for areas like risk management, communications, legal support, etc.
TASB Services
The services that TASB provides is comprehensive:
Leadership training - Equips school board members with skills and knowledge to effectively govern their districts.
Policy and governance tools - Provides resources and expertise to help districts develop and implement effective policies.
District operations expertise - Offers guidance to improve efficiency and effectiveness in managing school district operations.
Human capital services - Assists in recruiting, retaining, and developing highly qualified staff.
Purchasing and energy cooperatives - Facilitates cost-saving opportunities through group purchasing and energy management programs.
Legal support - Delivers expert legal advice and resources tailored to school district needs.
Safe Schools programs - Promotes strategies and solutions to maintain secure and welcoming environments for students and staff.
Student access resources - Enhances opportunities for students to access educational tools and programs.
Risk management services - Helps districts identify and mitigate potential risks to protect resources and ensure safety.
Investment and insurance assistance - Supports districts in managing finances and securing insurance coverage.
Facility services - Advises on planning, designing, and maintaining school facilities.
Special population consulting - Provides expertise to support students with unique educational needs.
Advocacy programs - Represents and amplifies the collective voice of school boards to influence educational policy.
And much more
Conroe ISD, from what I have gathered, is an ‘Active’ member of TASB, utilizing services such as board member training, policy updates, legal advice, insurance, and oversight of its risk management fund.
Texans for Excellence in Education
Let us now compare the competition, TEE. To begin, we should note a few odd things with their organization:
They are not registered in Texas like TASB is. TEE is registered in Delaware.
Their Delaware tax filings show it’s one Officer and Director is a Dallas consultant who focuses on the hospitality industry.
Their registration addresses are virtual (i.e., not real offices), both in Delaware and in Texas. This is not uncommon for PACs or many other small businesses out there, but it should be noted for such an important role that a school board association provides.
Their contact address is no longer on their website as it was when they were newly created. Perhaps they moved virtual addresses or physical offices, but there are interesting Twitter threads on TEE’s business registration:
And this thread:
And a related video:
As a side note, TEE’s online media campaigns are full of politically leaning messaging:
Of course, we should compare against TASB’s feeds as well, which you can do here via their Twitter and Facebook feeds. Scrolling through them I do not see anything as political as noted with TEE.
As an organization, TEE does not appear reputable as a school board association, at least based on everything we just collected. But let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and look at their structure, services, and recent activities in other school districts.
TEE Structure
As presented during the Conroe ISD meeting, TEE is similar to TASB in that it is also a school board association, a “board of boards”. It also has a four-person executive team that manages the business.
There isn’t much else I can find on their structure outside of the inconsistencies we learned on their Delaware business registration.
TEE Services
TEE claims to be able to provide any and all services that TASB can. Looking through their website and the various presentations they have made, I did mark that most of the services listed on their website and in their school board presentation are comparable by description. Each service’s scope may be different, but the key components are all there, including support of key district services, insurance, risk management, human resources support, purchasing co-ops, board training, etc.
If TEE does indeed have all the same services, we should note that a smaller organization will not yet have the economies of scale for a school board to consider, such as the fuel or purchasing co-ops. Nor do they offer all of the various programs within those services, as you can learn via the TASB history page.
Based on their ‘training connect’ service, as we will outline below, these services appear to be on-the-fly, building them as they go. We will also see where certain services listed in their slide deck, presented to the Conroe ISD Board, are seemingly non-existent.
TEE is giving major start-up vibes.
TEE Contractors
One obvious item is that TEE is not near as staffed or capable of delivering services as TASB is, if only for the reason they are still new and not as established as TASB. This does not mean TEE cannot continue to build their portfolio, and as they take on more school districts they should continue to grow.
However, what this means in the short-term is that they will have to subcontract out many of their services, one of which is training.
Based on reporting from the Texas Scorecard, a training partner with TEE is a non-profit named Innovative Teachers of Texas (ITTexas):
Melissa Martin, head of TEE’s training partner Innovative Teachers of Texas, spoke to the board as well.
ITTexas is a nonprofit approved by the Texas Education Agency to provide state-required training for school district administrators and board members.
“ITTexas provides training without the political agenda that’s going to offend any of your community members or parents,” Martin told Carroll ISD trustees.
If you visit the ITTexas website, you will notice it is not well cared for, as there are many broken images and links. If you look around the site you will find their mission items, such as:
An educator's job is to teach students. ITTexas believes educators should be liberated from any responsibility not related to academic success including, but not limited to, topics such as Social Emotional Learning (SEL), Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE), Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI), Critical Race Theory (CRT), Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI), etc…
…Judeo-Christian values are the values upon which our country is based, and those moral values should be respected when dealing with other people's children. ITTexas is not an inclusive or exclusive organization. ITTexas does not seek to allow every standard into our society for the woke appearance of being "inclusive" nor does ITTexas wish to be reactionary or an "exclusive" force.
It is unclear if all the services or programs provided through TEE are similar in their mission statement, but based on what we have seen so far, we would have to assume that they lean a certain political direction. This brings us to our next discovery.
Questionable Activity
For anyone keeping tabs on public education in Texas, you may be aware of the absolute drama occurring in Keller ISD. The short version is that the KISD Board is working to split their district into two, in order to address their $12 million budget shortfall (sound familiar?). Their community has been in uproar, and their Superintendent resigned over it.
A Keller ISD community group has been submitting constant public information requests (PIRs), doing their own investigation into the events that led up to the decision to split the district. This has led to a growing number of organizations joining into a lawsuit, claiming that the KISD Board committed TOMA violations in the process:
The plaintiffs contend that the board used encrypted messaging apps, undisclosed meetings and improperly hired consultants to advance a controversial plan to redraw the district’s boundaries without community input. That proposal has since triggered Superintendent Tracy Johnson’s resignation, opposition from Fort Worth’s top elected officials, a student walkout and calls for a public vote on the split.
Guess which “consultant” is at the middle of this drama?
Texans for Excellence in Education.
The push to split Keller ISD began as early as 2022, when the board hired a private attorney, Tim Davis, to consult on unspecified legal matters, according to the suit. Davis serves as general counsel to the Tarrant County Republican Party and on the board of managers for JPS Health Network, where he was appointed by County Judge Tim O’Hare in 2023.
Plaintiffs allege that Davis — whose hiring was never formally approved in a public meeting — was instrumental in developing a legal strategy for the proposed division of the district.
The lawsuit then details a network of consultants who allegedly played key roles in crafting the plan.
Among them is Grant Anderson, a self-described expert in school finance and business operations, who has ties to Texans for Excellence in Education. The nonprofit group presents itself as an alternative to the Texas Association of School Boards in providing training, legal advice and policy drafting to school districts.
Continued allegations are that for months TEE has been working behind the scenes with certain Board members to split the district so that TEE or other consultants could be used to manage and essentially privatize services of the school district.
They also claim that TEE is not actually an authorized TEA Provider, as a PIR to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) resulted in no results being found for TEE or the TEE representative to Keller ISD (Grant Anderson) that provided Board training:
“We went to TEA's website and couldn't find TEE or Grant Anderson as an authorized TEA Provider, so we submitted a public information request to TEA asking for Grant Anderson's certification and registration with the state to be authorized to legally provide trustee trainings. And you'll never guess what we got back? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Because Grant Anderson isn't registered with TEA to provide any school board trainings. We even called and confirmed with the TEA Governance division- Grant Anderson is NOT registered with the state, nor is TEE as an organization.” -LINK
I cannot personally verify these allegations, but you are welcome to view the Keller ISD community discussion on their Facebook group here, and you can see their collected public information request documentation here.
To go deeper into the web of connections of TEE, I found several interesting Reddit threads that connects others involved tangentially with TEE. I verified the information with the referenced links:
Hava Armstrong, the woman who presented to the Conroe ISD Board on TEE’s services, is married to Matt Armstrong who has been politically involved in several north Dallas area school board races, as well as local Republican Party Commissioner activity and the creation of related PACs that have backed school board candidates. He has made some questionable choices, some of which has landed him in trouble, including multiple Texas ethics violations that resulted in tens of thousands of dollars in fines.
Matt Armstrong’s PAC, Parents and Teachers of Decatur ISD (now dissolved), supported a Decatur ISD Board candidate, HollyAnn Petree, which the PAC sent text messages to their entire area sending false statements about her school board election opponents (also sound familiar?).
HollyAnn Petree is the wife of John Petree, the man who also presented to the Conroe ISD Board and is President of TEE.
Moving on, I decided to check out the TEE website and training portal.
TEE’s Portals
Looking at TEE’s training website, I noticed that anyone can register an account. I registered an account for myself and searched to find any available free trainings. Some of these appear to be scheduled Zoom calls, but even though these Zoom meetings are expired, you can easily click to receive your certificate, even after not doing anything at all!
Simply register an account, enroll into a free course, then click Complete Course to view your certificate.
This training site does not appear to be well secured, nor does it validate any information. I was not required to verify my email address, nor were any security options offered for my account (e.g., 2-Factor Auth). I wonder if I were to add a payment method for the trainings that do cost money, that I could also “complete” the course and print my certificate.
As this was for testing purposes only, I did send this info to the email on the website to let them know of these potential issues.
I also enrolled into a training course that was a recorded video, which is also available on their YouTube channel (the only video on their channel). Perhaps TEE provides some free content, or they clicked the wrong button when publishing it on YouTube:
In that hour long presentation (I watched at 2x speed), I actually did learn a lot about the Texas Accountability System. I cannot validate the accuracy of their training, but I will say it was well structured and clearly presented.
We should note that there were only 15 courses available for training in their portal, some of which were focused per school district (e.g., Katy ISD, and Conroe ISD recently added).
Lastly, in digging through the other services they presented on, I could not find any links for the various ‘connect’ services that they offer (Member Connect, HR Connect, etc.). You can view a sample of Policy Connect for Sherman ISD here (the only ISD I could find using it). Board Connect runs on Diligent, so I could not access it, but many of these “services” appear to be vaporware. Even the links on their website for Privacy and Legal policies go nowhere.
TEE appears to be selling services that do not actually exist.
Cost
One key point TEE touts is that they are only half the cost of TASB. I looked through the last three years of Conroe ISD AP registers for how much has been spent with TASB, excluding the Risk Management fund:
The total Conroe ISD budget for ‘24-25 is $711,000,000. Switching to TEE would not bring any substantial cost savings to the district.
My Take
TASB has been around for 75 years, and with any type of service provider it is important to have competition to keep them fresh. However, one could argue that an association such as TASB is not meant to have competition in the same way a for-profit business does. At its core, TASB is a combined voice for school boards, similar to a union. But perhaps that union has grown a little too comfortable with its status.
Having a new fresh association such as TEE does provide school boards with more choices to align its local community values.
However, TEE is basically a startup company. Their online content alone shows us that their platform is not completely finished. TEE is not transparent as an organization, their team has committed questionable acts within other school districts driving community outrage, they are much more of a politically-aligned association than TASB (e.g., TASB does not endorse school board candidates whereas TEE founders have directly contributed to candidates), their service offering appears subpar at best when compared to TASB, and their cost savings are inconsequential for a district of CISD’s size.
As a non-expert in public education policy, I am not able to validate TEE’s industry expertise. The content I was able to watch did appear as professional as any other I have seen, and their leadership team, though small, appears to have the credentials (I did note for one person, TEE is basically a side-gig from their normal day job).
Part of their presentation to the Conroe ISD Board included a statement that they offer all the current services as TASB. I highly doubt this. Though even if they do, I question their ability to execute on those services due to their small size and use of questionable contractors.
If the Conroe ISD Board is wanting to get away from TASB, surely there are better options than TEE? Perhaps there are not other board associations, but there are definitely companies out there that provide the same type of consulting services (examples here).
Why TEE? Why now?
What’s Next?
One item mentioned at the very beginning is that the CISD Board, specifically President Misty Odenweller, is hiring Board legal representation. This is not uncommon in cases where there is litigation involving the Board, conflict of interest, policy development, governance issues, negotiations, or many other cases where the school district attorney is not the appropriate person to handle such matters.
However, one item we noted earlier regarding Keller ISD is that their Board also hired legal representation, which turned out to be the same person who represents seemingly all of these school districts looking to move to TEE, Tim Davis. Tim Davis is a partner with Jackson Walker, and they provide TEE’s legal consulting services.
I am curious if President Odenweller is engaging with the same attorneys or firms to begin onboarding TEE services. Without submitting a public information request we probably will not know until upcoming meetings. After seeing what is going on in Keller ISD with their district split, I wonder if there are similar discussions happening in Conroe.
Closing Up & Appeal to the Board
If any of the Conroe ISD Board members happen to read this, I do implore you to ask more questions of TEE:
Can you provide case studies or examples of successful implementations in other school districts?
Can you provide references or testimonials from current clients?
How do you ensure quality and consistency of your services across different districts?
Can you demo each ‘connect’ portal live to show their capabilities and use?
What kind of cost savings can we realistically expect by switching to TEE?
How do you stay updated with the latest educational policies and best practices?
Can you provide a list of partners that support TEE’s services?
What qualifications and experience do your consultants and trainers have?
How accessible is your support team, and what is your average response time for issues?
What measures do you have in place to handle potential conflicts of interest?
How do you address and resolve any controversies or issues that arise with your services?
I apologize for such a long post, but I have been going down a rabbit-hole with TEE for quite some time. If you made it this far, I hope you can see the real concern with what the Conroe ISD Board may be doing with TEE and that you will speak up to voice these concerns.
TLDR Summary
Conroe ISD is considering replacing the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) services with Texans for Excellence in Education (TEE).
Recent board meetings have discussed and approved actions to move forward with TEE. A 'trial’ has begun, ending August 2025.
TASB has been a long-standing support organization for Texas school districts, providing services like board training, policy development, legal assistance, and advocacy.
It has faced criticism for its stance on progressive issues, particularly transgender student policy recommendations provided via its Legal FAQs.
TEE is a new organization offering similar services to TASB but has faced scrutiny due to political leanings and questionable practices.
Concerns about TEE's legitimacy and capability have been raised, given its newness and political connections. It is not a Texas-registered organization, and its founders have been involved in numerous controversies.
TEE has been involved in questionable activities in other school districts and potential conflicts of interest, such as orchestrating a district split of Keller ISD, or its connections with megadonors.
TEE claims to offer services at half the cost of TASB, but the actual cost savings for Conroe ISD are minimal.
TEE's services are still developing or non-existent, and there are doubts about their ability to match TASB's comprehensive offerings.
The Conroe ISD Board is hiring legal representation, possibly linked to TEE's legal consultants for onboarding.
Thanks for reading.
Ryan, excellent analysis and investigative work. It likely will not change anything as the CISD board appears to be making changes without complete transparency. Based upon the FB chatter on school vouchers and the adoption of the Bluebonnet curriculum, too many parents are shocked by the changes only after it is too late.