A social media post from an education activist has raised questions about how a school district in southeast Texas and its associated foundation are using taxpayer monies meant to benefit students.
Dr. Mary Bone posted a recording of Greg Poole, executive director of the Barbers Hill Education Foundation, discussing the foundation’s finances. Poole says the state “can’t touch our foundation.”
“We are now at $102 million as of today. When you consider the land purchase that Becky pointed out, we’re almost at $110 million,” Poole said. “As we said, this is 100 percent to the benefit of Barbers Hills students and staff.”
However, Dr. Bone believes otherwise. She posted a screenshot of the foundation’s IRS 990 form from fiscal year 2021 that showed 2.3 percent of the foundation’s total revenue going back to Barbers Hill ISD in the form of grants—$689,075 out of more than $29 million.
Dr. Bone’s post also cited OpenTheBooks.com, which reported the school district made more than $41 million in payments to the foundation from 2019 to 2021.
In addition to his role with the foundation, Poole is also the Barbers Hill ISD superintendent. The foundation website shows that half of the foundation’s leadership are current or former school district leaders, including Poole. Located in Mont Belvieu, Barbers Hill ISD serves around 7,000 students.
In the recording, Poole said that “the state and the legislature can do whatever crazy, ridiculous things that they do, and it does not matter. They can’t touch our foundation.”
“Facts matter,” Dr. Bone, a former Round Rock ISD trustee, wrote. “While the Foundation repeatedly states it exists 100% for the benefit of the district, the official IRS filings show that only a small fraction of its revenue is returned to the district as grants, raising questions about how the numbers align with the public narrative.”
The recording she posted also raised the question of if state laws still apply to taxpayer monies transferred from the school district to the foundation.
Poole has been the subject of inquiry before. As previously reported, while still employed as Barbers Hill ISD superintendent, Poole started a company called Jigsaw “to broker deals between school boards across the state and companies.” The company provided an analysis in support of a special property tax deal being worked out between Baird ISD and the Ranchland Wind Project.
Neither Barbers Hill ISD nor the foundation responded to a request for comment before publication.
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