The State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) held a short special-called meeting Tuesday to discuss business related to its work on educator misconduct. The chair of the Temporary Suspensions Committee, Vice Chair Julia Dvorak, presided, while most of the members appeared via Zoom.

The board received a debrief from Texas Education Agency (TEA) Inspector General Levi Fuller concerning the newly created Educator Misconduct Dashboard, which is now live on the TEA website. As work on the dashboard has unfolded, ATPE has provided suggestions to TEA regarding its design and the information made available. Specifically, ATPE has asked TEA to make a clearer distinction between educators who are under investigation and those who have been officially placed on the Do Not Hire Registry. Currently, both groups appear together in search results, which may confuse the public and unfairly damage an educator’s reputation before any findings are made. ATPE also pointed to existing state law that says information about educators under investigation must be shared through a process separate from the Do Not Hire Registry.

The board also appointed SBEC member Tara Turk-Zaafran to serve as the new vice chair of the Temporary Suspensions Committee because Dvorak will soon be on maternity leave. Additionally, the board added new SBEC member JoMeka Gray to this committee.

SBEC’s next regular meeting will be July 23–24. July meetings are usually work sessions designed to give the board a chance to dig deeper into its work for the next year.