Attorney Seeks Data From KISD On District’s Tracking Of Voter Status Of Employees And Rumored Orders For Teachers To Initiate ‘New Academic Re-Testing Practice’

Civil Rights Attorney Larry Watts has submitted a detailed public information request to the Katy I.S.D. seeking detailed information on the scope of the district’s monitoring of the voter registration status of employees.  He is also seeking information on what he says may be a new grading policy regarding the re-testing of students that may violate state law.  Watts is a resident of Fort Bend County where his practice is located.

The civil rights attorney advised the district that he had been contact by employees of the district but that “this request is not in furtherance of litigation or anticipation of litigation.  I am requesting information (at this point) under the public information act of the State of Texas.

“The sanctity of the ballot and free expression are visibly implicated in your described attempts to enlist the employees of your District in your employment objective,” Watts wrote Supt. Alton Frailey.

“Moreover, it has also been communicated to me that members of your administration have communicated to principals, other administrators (central and campus-based), and classroom teachers that certain grading procedures are to be implemented during the 2010-2011 academic year,” his letter indicated.  Watts said that he and those who communicated with him “are concerned that the policies that have been communicated to classroom teachers may in fact violate terms of state law.”

Reportedly, the district is advising classroom teachers that students who make a grade of 69 or less on any major exam are to be allowed to retake the test although implementation procedures remain murky as to the procedures of the retesting process.  Watts says that he is seeking detailed information that captures all written communications involving this matter.

Among the material Watts has asked the district to provide regarding Frailey’s comments at a district-wide convocation Tuesday, August 17 regarding the voter registration status of employees in the context of past and future bond elections are the following:

• Copy of all video and/or audio recordings of Frailey’s actual remarks as delivered.
• Copies of the remarks in written form as drafted and finalized.
• All emails and written communications between any and all employees of the district who participated in the drafting of the remarks or reviewed the remarks prior to delivery. 
• A copy of all written communications to and from any and all district officials as well as school board members who have made comments that have referenced any and all individuals and groups that have been critical of the district’s proposed capital improvement program.
• A copy of all written communications between any and all employees of Katy I.S.D. that reference in any way any aspect of the monitoring of district employees’ voter registration status.  The request specifically included in this context any and all notes, diaries, minutes and agendas of all meetings at which the subject of the voter registration status of employees was discussed or reviewed in any way.
• Copies of all written communications between any officials and employees of Katy I.S.D. and the local governments in Harris, Waller, and Fort Bend Counties or private vendors from which the district received voter registration lists.
• Copies of all written communications to and from any and all employees of the district that directed any other employee of the district or a private vendor to merge voter registration lists with school district records for the purpose of producing a list of employees that were and were not registered to vote.
• Copies of all work product that was produced as a result of such work including actual copies whether in electronic or hard copy form showing the voter identification numbers of district employees who were identified a result of the district’s orders.
• Copies of all written communications to and from any and all administrative officials and campus level administrators including principals, assistant principals and others that in any way reference or provide information to campus level officials of the names of district employees who are and are not registered to vote.
• Copies of all written communications to and from any and all administrative officials and campus level administrators and others that in any reference how such voter registration information is to be used, evaluated, or otherwise communicated to employees at the campus level.

The request by Watts also sought detailed information on the planning and current operational status of any changes in district practices that would automatically require classroom teachers to administer a ‘re-test’ to students who made a grade of 69 or below on any major test during the 2010-2011 academic year.  Among the information specifically sought is the following:

• Copies of all written communications between any and all administrative officials of the district that reference in any way whatsoever grading policies are practices that classroom teachers are expected to implement regarding the retesting of students who perform at given levels on major tests during the academic year.
• Written communications between any and all employees of the district as well as vendors or consultants to the district that reference in any way the consideration of the new grading re-test practice.  The request indicated such written documentation would include notes, minutes, agendas, diaries of all staff meetings at which such grading policies were discussed or referenced.
• Copies of any and all written communications to and from any and all administrators including those at the campus level that reference in any way the recent controversial lawsuit that established classroom teachers as the authority of what grades were to be assigned to students in their respective classrooms.  The request sought information on this to determine the role the lawsuit may have played in the development of any specific policy in the district.
• Copies of all written communications that would allow the public to learn how any such retesting policies or practices are to be administered at the campus level and the degree of flexibility that individual teachers and campuses will be given during the implementation of such a policy or practice.

Watts described access to the information sought on both matters as a matter of extreme public interest and of extreme professional interest to certified public educators and district employees.