Austin ISD President Resigns After Texting Controversy

AUSTIN, TX — Austin ISD school board president Kendall Pace resigned Monday after controversial text messages she sent a colleague on the dais surfaced last week.

The Austin teachers' union had led the charge in calling for Pace's resignation after texts she sent surfaced showed some rough language toward other members of the education community while she addressed methods of closing the academic achievement gap as it relates to minority students.

The texts were exposed by the Austin American-Statesman which came to them as part of an open records request for district documents. In the texts, Austin ISD board president Pace and trustee Julie Cowan discussed the Texas Education Agency’s Transformation Zone Program designed to help struggling schools in Northeast Austin if district plans are approved, the newspaper reported.

K. Pace

In the texts, Pace said a grant to fund struggling campuses would only get approved if those schools were set up like charters, “i.e. one with balls to ignore the special interest groups and crazy ignorant community activists and poverty pimps,” Pace wrote in her text even while acknowledging the program did come through with additional funding.

Watch Live Stream: Austin ISD Board Of Trustees Meeting

On Monday, Pace announced she was stepping down at Austin ISD headquarters after the messages came to light. "I realize my work is done here," Pace said. "I decided I will press for change on the outside," she added while simultaneously apologizing for the linguistic crudeness of her texts. But she noted the sentiments were borne of frustration over the lack of urgency in achieving academic parity.

As Pace was readying to announce her resignation Monday afternoon, members of the Save East Austin Schools Coalition mobilized for a staged rally planned Monday night outside Austin ISD headquarters, 1111 W. 6th St. The 6:30 p.m. gathering plans to rally against the current board of directors and protest mulled closures of East Austin schools, according to an advisory sent to Patch.

Pace's term wasn't set to expire until November, and now trustees will have to figure out how to replace her at their Monday night meeting. She was first elected to the AISD board of trustees in December 2014 before being elected president by her fellow trustees in January 2016, according to information found on the Austin ISD website.

Pace had an upbringing in Houston, where she graduated from Lee High School before graduating from the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor's degree in finance, according to the bio. She is married to Charlie Pace, and has three sons enrolled in Austin ISD schools.

More Pace bio highlights:

• Pace has more than 20 years of experience in business operations, financial and strategic planning, investment management and program impact services in the public and private sectors.
• Previously, she was a director in treasury at Dell Inc. and the director of Grant Operations and the U.S. Health Portfolio at the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.
• Currently, she and her husband own Smart Flour Foods, a local gluten-free company.
• Active in her community, Pace has volunteered with AISD and served on the Campus Advisory Councils at Casis Elementary School and Kealing Middle School, on the District Advisory Council and was a part of the 2012–13 UpClose class.
• She was also Treasurer of the Board of Directors of Creative Action, a local nonprofit that serves AISD schools.
• She is a member of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce Education and Talent Development Council.

AISD board of trustees, including Pace (fifth from left).

>>> Uppermost image via Shutterstock. Photo of Pace and Austin ISD board of trustees, via Austin ISD website, from left, Edmund T. Gordon, District 1; Ann Teich, District 3; Geronimo M. Rodriguez, Jr., vice president District 6; Amber Elenz, District 5; Kendall Pace, president, At Large 9; Julie Cowan, secretary, District 4; Yasmin Wagner, District 7; Cindy Anderson, At Large 8; Jayme Mathias, District 2, via Austin ISD website