TEA to review vendor process after convicted felon registers as
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The Texas Education Agency is looking at changing its rules and registration process for vendors who provide training for school board trustees after learning one trainer in its database is a convicted felon.
James Earl Dunn, then with a now-defunct company called Rehab Specialist Inc., pleaded guilty in 2008 for submitting fraudulent claims to the Texas Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services according to the U.S. Department of Education. Dunn claimed he was providing employment training and coaching to clients with disabilities when, in fact, the clients were not receiving such training, prosecutors said.
He was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison.
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Dunn now operates the Angleton-based nonprofit Gulf Coast Community Action Agency, which he founded in 2019. The organization provides continuing education and training to school board members. Dunn became a registered provider for TEA in September and is one of 621 registered with the state. His registration is good through September 2025.
Dunn could not be reached for comment.
School board trustees traditionally take training through the Texas Association of School Boards, but can train with a TEA-approved agency at the starts of their terms.
Newly seated Conroe ISD board members Melissa Dungan, Misty Odenweller and Tiffany Nelson opted not to take their training with TASB and instead recently did their training with Dunn’s organization.
Sarah Blakelock, director of communications with Conroe, said the district does cover the training and continuing education costs for board members if the organization is a registered vendor with the district. She said Dunn and his organization are not registered with the district. She said Dungan, Odenweller and Nelson paid for their training.
Dungan, Odenweller and Nelson did not return calls or emails.
Jake Kobersky, director of media relations for TEA, said the agency doesn’t have the authority under the State Board of Education to deny registration to its database of training providers. He said TEA does not compensate training providers and only maintains the database as a tool for school districts to find a trainer that fits their needs.
However, after learning of Dunn’s conviction, Kobersky said the agency is exploring possible rule changes and process improvements for registration with the board of education.
According to TEA’s website, anyone seeking to provide continuing education for school district board members and/or charter school board members and school officers must register with TEA and provide information and/or resume regarding their area of expertise.
TEA to review vendor process after convicted felon registers as
The Texas Education Agency is looking at changing its rules and registration process for vendors who provide training for school board trustees after learning one trainer in its database is a convicted felon. James Earl Dunn, th…
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