Judson ISD board president details warnings before trustee was escorted out amid leadership and budget turmoil

Confrontation unfolds during special-called meeting

A contentious Judson Independent School District (ISD) special-called board meeting in Live Oak ended with a trustee being escorted from the room after a dispute over meeting procedure and agenda authority. The incident occurred the same night the board voted to close Judson Middle School at the end of the 2025-26 academic year, part of a broader effort to address a district budget shortfall reported at roughly $35 million to $37 million in recent board discussions.

Board President Monica Ryan later said she issued repeated warnings before requesting that an on-duty police officer remove Trustee Suzanne Kenoyer. The dispute escalated as Kenoyer challenged two agenda items tied to a closed-session discussion with district attorneys about “interviewing and hiring an interim superintendent,” questioning how the items were placed on the agenda and whether trustees had previously discussed them outside of posted meetings.

Open meetings concerns and competing claims

Kenoyer asserted that the agenda items reflected a destabilizing attempt to revisit interim leadership shortly after the board’s February 4 decision to terminate Superintendent Milton “Rob” Fields III and select Mary Duhart-Toppen as interim superintendent. During the exchange, Kenoyer raised concerns about a potential “walking quorum,” a term commonly used in Texas public governance to describe serial discussions that could implicate open-meetings requirements.

Ryan ruled Kenoyer out of order and directed the meeting to move on. As the two spoke over each other, Ryan called for a police officer to escort Kenoyer out. Kenoyer refused, and at least one trustee objected on the record. Ryan then declared a recess and struck the gavel. After leaving the board table, Kenoyer told reporters she was departing because she did not want to participate in what she characterized as an illegal meeting.

Budget-driven school closures add pressure

The confrontation came amid high-stakes votes on school consolidation. Earlier this month, the board voted to close four campuses—one middle school and three elementary schools—though the initial vote did not name the specific schools. Subsequent meetings narrowed decisions, culminating in the vote to close Judson Middle School. District discussions have cited declining enrollment, operating costs and long-term facilities expenses as major drivers of the consolidation plan, with estimated savings discussed publicly at about $7 million.

Long-running governance tensions

The episode is the latest in a series of public clashes within the Judson ISD board, where disagreements over transparency, procedure and leadership decisions have repeatedly surfaced during meetings. Recent months have also included calls by trustees to consider formal complaints and investigations involving board conduct, as well as separate legal filings alleging violations of Texas open-meetings requirements related to prior board actions.

• Key issue in dispute: how interim leadership discussions were placed on the agenda and whether prior trustee discussions complied with open-meetings rules.
• Immediate context: votes to close campuses and restructure attendance boundaries to reduce costs.
• Next decisions: additional campus-closure selections and boundary changes remain on the board’s schedule.

The board’s procedural conflict played out as trustees considered both district leadership stability and rapid budget reductions that directly affect school communities.