This development is the culmination of a semester-long debate over local control and whether the district interpreted a new state ban on student cellphone use during the school day correctly.
Following an investigation, the state agency told NEISD its board must develop a policy to comply with state law by Dec. 31, submit that policy to TEA by Jan. 9, 2026 and outline how that policy will go into effect by Jan. 30. However, that timeline will be pushed back a month because of the resignation of the district's superintendent, according to board president David Beyer.
"I personally have been hearing from people in our community that our students and our families like the policy that we have in place," he said. "I would be curious from TEA's perspective, kind of why we would need to change our policy when we think it actually complies with the guidance and the law that they have presented to us."
If the district does not comply, TEA can increase its oversight of NEISD. TEA officials did not specify what an increase in oversight could look like and agency spokesperson Jake Kobersky did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The Express-News obtained the corrective plan through a Texas Public Information Act request after the NEISD Board of Trustees voted to make it publicly accessible Monday night.
"So far as you can see in the documentation, all we've really gotten is a 'you need to change it,'" Beyer said. "But no real explanation as to why our position on this is kind of contrary to what they think it should be."
The board voted to release the documents to be transparent with constituents, he said.
TEA INVESTIGATION
Records show a complaint was filed about the issue in September, and TEA began investigating in October. NEISD was put under the corrective action plan on Nov. 6, after TEA found NEISD's policy was not in compliance with a new state law.
The new law in question, House Bill 1481, passed with bipartisan support to ban student cellphone use during the school day and immediately went into effect in June.
"Educators and researchers have raised concerns about the impact that smartphones have on student learning and student engagement," Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement after signing the bill into law. "If we are going to be number one in education, it is going to require the undivided attention of our students in the classroom."
However, NEISD continued to allow students access to their devices during lunchtime, passing periods and restroom breaks. The district argued the law only barred cellphone access during classroom time. NEISD was the only district in the San Antonio-area — and possibly the state — to interpret the law in such a way.
Alamo Heights ISD began the school year allowing similar cellphone use, but later enforced a bell-to-bell cellphone ban.
While some supported NEISD's interpretation as a way for children to contact their parents during emergencies, others criticized it as undermining the spirit of the law.
In an email to a TEA investigator on Oct. 1, superintendent Sean Maika contested that the state agency's attempt to force NEISD to comply with the law was ironic as other state policies sought to codify parental rights in public education. He argued the district sought and applied parental feedback in its interpretation of the policy around cellphone use.
Maika also contended the new law did not override key elements of local control that provide "school boards authority to decide matters that are best left to districts and the parents and students they serve to work together in making."
"Our process leading to the adoption of North East ISD's lawful policy carried out this mandate, as it is reflective of the feedback parents/guardians provided for what their children's school day would look like," the superintendent wrote.
Maika also forwarded emails from district parents expressing support for NEISD's policy.
His board president agrees. Beyer said that in today's society, busy kids and parents often need communication during the day.
"Honestly, I mean, the other side of this is, if something's going wrong at school, and that school is under threat, there's a lot of parents, including myself, that would want to have that access," Beyer said.
NEW SUPERINTENDENT
At a board meeting earlier this week, the NEISD board voted to accept Maika's resignation as superintendent, who announced in November he would be leaving the district. He did not state a reason for his departure but told the Express-News that it was time "to do something different."
The district's chief instruction officer, Anthony Jarrett, is slated to become NEISD's interim superintendent in January. He said Monday that he will seek more information from his predecessor and the board on how to proceed.
Jarret said the cellphone policy was not "necessarily (his) lane" in his current position overseeing instruction.
"I want to support where we've been going as a system, which is building relationships with our community and listening," Jarrett said. "But at the same time, if we don't have any choices, we don't have choices."
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