Student Solutions Team

Denise Carter serves as manager of TASB Student Solutions, where she leads an energetic and innovative team dedicated to supporting districts in special populations areas.

Carter’s 28 years of education experience in special education, general education, and administrative roles help her to meet the varied needs of all Texas school districts such as operating procedures, full program and folder reviews, professional development, executive coaching, and special education workload staffing analysis.

Carter joined TASB in 2019. She holds a bachelor’s in education from Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos and a master’s in education from The University of Texas at Austin. She has earned a doctorate in educational leadership from Hardin Simmons University in Abilene.

Karlyn Keller serves as division director of Student Solutions, where she leads a team of educational professionals in serving school districts’ special populations programs.

Keller has more than 30 years in education, beginning as a substitute teacher in 1992. During her time in education, she has served as teacher, school counselor, educational diagnostician, campus administrator, director of various special populations programs, and assistant superintendent. She joined TASB in 2015.

Keller is a graduate of East Texas State University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in education with a concentration in special education and psychology and has a bachelor’s degree in cross-cultural communication from Southwest Assemblies of God University. She earned a master’s degrees in special education and in counseling from Texas A&M University – Commerce, and master’s degrees in educational administration and in gifted and talented from the University of North Texas. She also earned a doctorate in education from the University of North Texas.

Mary McFarlin is a senior consultant for TASB Student Solutions.

With more than 15 years of experience in public education, primarily in special education, McFarlin brings valuable experience to the Student Solutions team. She has worked as a SHARS administrator, PEIMS and records management specialist, coordinated ECI transitions, and handled SPP data collection and reporting. McFarlin is a certified Texas vision and hearing screener with experience screening students with disabilities ages 2-21. She enjoys sharing her knowledge of special populations and systematic organization with TASB members across the state through full program and folder reviews, and workload staffing analyses.

She holds an associate's of science in business administration with a focus on management from Austin Community College. She is completing a bachelor in business administration with Texas A&M University-Central Texas. 

Walters brings 10 years of experience in education to the team. She served as both a middle school and high school special education teacher, as well as a speech-language pathologist assistant. Her extensive experience working directly with students and teachers equips her to offer practical, tailored support that empowers districts and their staff to better serve the needs of students. 

Since joining TASB in 2022 as temporary support on the Student Solutions team, Chelsey has assisted districts across Texas in reviewing documentation and processes to enhance special education program effectiveness and compliance, ensuring staff can focus on what matters most—students. 

She holds a Bachelor of Communication Sciences and Disorders degree with a specialization in speech-language pathology from the University of Texas at Austin and is also a licensed speech-language pathologist assistant.