BISD School Board votes to terminate teacher

The Brownfield ISD School Board held its regularly scheduled meeting on Monday night, October 20, 2025. After calling the meeting to order, the Board proceeded with the invocation and the pledges, followed by a public comment period. During this time, one individual offered public comments..

Stephanie Moore, a probationary fourth-grade teacher at Oak Grove Elementary, spoke during the public comment section. Moore began her comments by addressing the administration, the school board, and community members. She continued to say that she has been an educator for over 21 years, stating that during this time she has been a mentor teacher, and has served her students, colleagues, and parents “with nothing but respect, compassion, and professionalism”. Moore went on to say, “I am here tonight because I have been accused of harming a child on three separate occasions… completely false allegations. I want to say clearly and firmly I have never injured a child in all of my life and wouldnt start now.”

During Moore’s comment, she cited Chapter 37 of the Texas Education Code. According to the Texas Education Agency and the Education Code, Chapter 37 titled the Safe Schools Act, governs student discipline, behavior management, and school safety. It grants teachers the authority to remove students from class and outlines procedures for handling student misconduct, including options for alternative education placements. The chapter also includes provisions for the “Unsafe School Choice Option,” which allows students attending a persistently dangerous school or those who have been victims of violence to transfer to a safe public school. During the 89th (2025) Texas Legislation, House Bill 6 (HB6), which was labeled as “Teacher’s Bill of Rights” was signed into law by Texas Governor Greg Abbott. HB6 significantly modified and added provisions to Chapter 37 of the Texas Education Code (TEC) concerning student discipline, effective for the 2025-2026 school year. The bill expanded the prohibited exemptions from Chapter 37 for Districts of Innovation, strengthened teacher authority to remove disruptive students, and introduced requirements like a campus behavior coordinator. 

Moore went on to say, “In this particular case, I made the difficult decision to request that a chronically disruptive and disrespectful student not be allowed to return to my classroom due to lack of help and support with this student. This was not an act of defiance, but one of responsibility and protection for the other 95% of my students who came each day to learn.” Moore continued to inform the Board that she had formally requested the removal of a student from her classroom. She stated that she sent an email requesting this on September 26, 2025, at 7:02 AM. According to Moore, on that same day at 10:15 AM, she was placed on administrative leave. Moore believes that this sequence of events was not a coincidence and “spoke volumes.” She also expressed that the accusation against her did not arise until after she had requested that the student not be allowed in her classroom. Moore’s time to comment further was limited, and she could not provide additional input.

The Board went into the Superintendent’s reports and gave recognition. Those who recognized and honored is, Student of the Month: John Fields of Brownfield High School, Colonial Heights -Employee of the Month: Zairy Porter, Oak Grove -Employee of the Month: Sarah Clements, Brownfield Middle School -Employee of the Month: Anna Espino, Brownfield High School Employee of the Month: Kelsey Lamprecht.

During the Superintendent’s report, Brownfield High School Principal Dr. Cooper presented an overview of the school’s academic performance. He emphasized three key areas regarding testing: student achievement, closing the gaps, and growth. Dr. Cooper informed the board that growth represented their biggest opportunity for improvement. While he acknowledged that the test scores were not yet at their desired level, he highlighted the significant growth that had been observed. To address these challenges, the school is implementing new programs aimed at meeting academic expectations.

Athletic Director Art Onteveros provided an update on the athletics department. He informed the Board about the opportunity for the Brownfield Lady Cub Volleyball team to qualify for the playoffs. He also mentioned that football district play begins this week and that the competition for the district title is wide open. Additionally, he discussed a recent drug test, which involved 180 students; unfortunately, two tested positive for drugs. However, he did not specify what types of drugs were detected in the tests.

Superintendent Chris Smith discussed the current enrollment figures at BISD. As of now, the total enrollment stands at 1,589, which is 22 fewer students than this time last year. The high school enrollment has decreased by 24 students, bringing the total to 442. Smith mentioned that the enrollment snapshot date is next week, and Bronfield is comfortably classified as a 3A school, although they may potentially move down to Division II in football.At the BEC, there are currently 38 enrolled students, while the middle school has 334 students, which is an increase of six compared to last year. Oak Grove, the largest campus in BISD, has 641 students enrolled, down by 29 from last year. Colonial Heights has an enrollment of 134 students, which is an increase of 18 students from the previous year.

The Board continued with a review of the financials. According to BISD CFO Ronald Kuehler, the district has expended $7,076,765.71 of its current fiscal budget, which totals $28,834,695.29, indicating that spending is on target. BISD has recently adjusted its fiscal budget period to run from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026. As of September 1, 2025, the total funds in the bank had a beginning balance of $1,326,192.60, with an ending balance of $1,536,172.76. Additionally, the total beginning balance in the investment accounts on September 1, 2025, was $11,714,044.49, and the ending balance for September 2025 is $12,425,884.61.

Next the Board would consider approval of the District Improvement Plan Goals and Performance Objectives. The goals set forth are:

•  Goal 1: Brownfield ISD will increase all student growth on state and local unit assessments to help each student meet his/her educational potential
• Goal 2: Brownfield ISD will increase student attendance and completion rate
• Goal 3: Brownfield ISD will maintain a safe and drug free and secure environment for staff and students
• Goal 4: Brownfield ISD will foster positive community, parent, teacher and student communication and relationships to involve parents as partners to promote student learning.
• Goal 5: Brownfield ISD will recruit and maintain a highly qualified staff
• Goal 6: Brownfield ISD will implement technology to increase the effectiveness of student learning, instructional management and staff development.

The Board approved the District Improvement Plan Goals and Performance Objectives.

Next the Board entered into executive (closed door) session to discuss two items: Consider superintendent recommendation to propose termination of the probationary contract of a classroom teacher (Tex. Gov’t Code 551.074) and consultation with attorney (Tex. Gov’t Code §551.071) about the same, and Consultation with attorney (Tex. Gov’t Code § 551.071) regarding possible action on a Resolution authorizing a Trustee Election Plan, Establishing Findings of Fact, and Providing an Effective Date.

The Board came out of executive session about 30 minutes later. Board President Geoff Cooper began with a consideration of the superintendent’s recommendation to propose the termination of the probationary contract of a classroom teacher. Board Vice President Tim Swaringen then made the motion to terminate Stephanie Moore and Board Member Cat Gonzales seconded the motion. The board voted unanimously in favor of the superintendent’s recommendation to terminate Stephanie Moore. According to TEA, Moore has the right to appeal, and until the appeal process and legal process are finished, Moore will stay on paid administrative leave. TownTalk Media reached out to BISD Superintendent to get a comment about the termination and cause. Smith said, “Last night, BISD took action to begin the contract termination process for a teacher in the district. As it is an HR matter and considered confidential, we will not make any further comment on this matter.”

The next executive action taken was for the Board of Trustees to adopt the resolution of the Brownfield Independent School District, Which Established a Trustee Election Plan, Made Findings of Fact, and set an Effective Date. This resolution stems from an ongoing issue with the current Districts 1, 2, & 3 not having anyone run for those spots. The school board is made up of five district holders and two at large. The resolution which has been inacted now will allow seven at-large seats on the board of trustees. The seats will now be positions and not districts. The current position holders are:

The meeting was ajourned.