The Texas Attorney General’s Office announced Friday that it has notified the Northwest ISD Board of Trustees that the district engaged in electioneering over wording used in a Facebook post about Proposition A, the November ballot measure to raise the school tax rate for maintenance and operations funding.
In the letter — which at times incorrectly referred to Northwest ISD as “Northeast Independent School District” — the attorney general’s office said the district’s Facebook post about Proposition A included language that was persuasive rather than strictly informational.
The post cited by Ken Paxton’s office read, “With larger class sizes this year, teachers have faced challenges with small group instruction and student behavior. If Proposition A is approved by voters, Northwest ISD will hire additional teachers to reduce class sizes.”
According to the attorney general’s letter, the wording “encouraged voters to vote for Prop A because if they do not, students will not get small group instruction and education will be disrupted by student behavior issues.” Paxton’s office said the statement was not purely factual and amounted to advocacy for the proposition’s passage.
“School districts should focus on teaching children reading, writing and arithmetic instead of unlawfully using taxpayer funds to meddle in elections that will raise taxes even higher,” said Paxton in Friday’s press release. “ISDs are educational entities, not lobbying firms. Illegal electioneering must come to an end, and any school district engaging in such conduct can expect to hear from my office.”
The press release from the AG’s office said Northwest ISD, along with three other districts, removed the offending material and agreed to abide by the law.
While Northwest ISD did voluntary reword the Facebook post, the district said the press release from the AG’s office is factually inaccurate.
In a written response to Paxton’s office one day after receiving the letter from the AG’s office, NISD defended itself, saying the district has an affirmative duty to educate voters about the purpose of the tax-rate election and the reason for calling it.
NISD’s letter said the purpose of the election was to alleviate classroom overcrowding, which are facts the district must share while remaining cognizant of its ethical duties under the the Education and Election Codes.
“Northwest ISD did not electioneer during its 2025 election. The district directly communicated this fact to the attorney general’s office on November 4 in response to its letter sent the previous day,” said the district. “As with all district elections, communication materials were reviewed by a third-party legal consultant for full compliance with all state laws, including those governing electioneering.”
According to NISD, the AG’s office never responded to the district’s Nov. 4 letter and never sent Friday’s press release to the district.
On Tuesday, Northwest ISD’s Proposition A passed, raising the school tax rate by three cents to support district maintenance and operations costs.
