Education
BY WESLEY GARDNER
Recommendation on fate of Fagen’s contract with HISD expected by Nov. 22
How it played out
2022 March: Humble ISD Superintendent Elizabeth Fagen discloses her relationship with former HISD Athletic Director Troy Kite to the board of trustees. 2023 May: Title IX complaint is filed against Kite by an athletic department staff member; Fagen recuses herself from the investigation. 2024 April: Trustees vote to release findings of the Title IX investigation and accept Kite’s retirement. May: Trustees place Fagen on paid administrative leave and appoint Deputy Superintendent Roger Brown to serve as acting superintendent. July: Trustees vote to propose the termination of Fagen’s contract. October-November: Fagen appeals the board’s decision, and a hearing is held by an independent hearing examiner appointed by the Texas Education Agency. Nov. 22: Deadline for the independent examiner overseeing the proceeding to issue a recommendation
The fate of Humble ISD Superintendent Elizabeth Fagen could be decided by the end of November, following the completion of her three-day hearing appealing the board of trustees’ proposed termina- tion of her contract. The overview The hearing—which was held on Oct. 31, Nov. 1 and Nov. 6 by an independent hearing examiner appointed by the Texas Eduction Agency—repre- sented the first time Fagen has publicly addressed the board’s decision to propose the termination of her contact in July. Throughout the hearing, lawyers representing the district argued Fagen’s relationship with former HISD Athletic Director Troy Kite—who Fagen mar- ried in 2023—had negatively affected the district’s ability to fairly respond to a Title IX complaint filed
against Kite in 2023. The district’s legal team also argued the relation- ship led to more than $1.3 million in legal fees spent litigating several Title IX complaints stemming from the original complaint filed against Kite. Meanwhile, attorneys representing Fagen argued she was a nonfactor in the Title IX proceedings and the district’s decision to obtain outside counsel because she had recused herself from all proceed- ings related to the Title IX complaint in May 2023. What’s next? Karen Egbuna, the hearing officer appointed to oversee Fagen’s appeal, said she will release her recommendation by Nov. 22. HISD trustees will then consider the recommendation and take a final vote on whether to move forward with the termination of Fagen’s contract.
SOURCE: HUMBLE ISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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