Education Leaders Unite for Learning at txEDCON in Houston

Heading back to the Bayou City for the first time in nearly a decade, txEDCON will welcome thousands of school board trustees and administrators from big and small districts across Texas as they come together Sept. 11-14 for four days of learning, engagement, and connection at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

“As the largest gathering of public school leaders in the state of Texas, txEDCON is a wonderful opportunity to network while also receiving high-quality training to serve school communities and students,” said Dan Troxell, TASB executive director. “And this year, we are so excited to welcome everyone to Houston.”

The premier annual conference, hosted by the Texas Association of School Administrators and TASB, offers school board trustees, superintendents, and district administrators access to timely and thoughtful programming on a wide range of topics. Each session is designed to support the important work they do for their districts.

Tim Fletcher, Slidell ISD’s board president, said he first attended the convention, now known as txEDCON, in the 1970s when he was a few years into his board service. Fletcher is celebrating 52 years of board service in September. Even though he’s been to txEDCON consistently over the decades, he still finds it a worthwhile experience, and he encourages others to attend.

“If you’re energetic and you want to stay abreast of all the new things going on, you need to go, especially with the legislative updates they give,” Fletcher said.

Slidell ISD is located northwest of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, and it serves about 482 students. Fletcher said that the roundtable discussions during sessions are great opportunities to talk with trustees from districts of all sizes.

“You can see what happens in other districts that way,” he said. “Talking to other school districts, there are unique things they do that maybe we don’t do that might be a good idea to try,” he said. “You will hear things you will think that will never happen in your school district, and it does happen. It is always kind of nice to know what somebody else has done.”

This year, registrants can choose from more than 100 sessions that will be offered at txEDCON. All the trainings are designed to support education leaders so they can lead and govern effectively to support the advancement of Texas public schools, while also strengthening support for public education and public education students.

Special Workshops

For new board members and experienced trustees filling board officer roles, txEDCON provides two training programs with topics, tools, and best practices to meet their needs and continuing education requirements.

Texas Trustee Institute is a curated two-day program designed for new trustees just starting their board service journey, while Board Officer Institute is a program for new board officers or those interested in a board officer role.

TTI provides an overview of some of the most critical topics and information a new board member needs to know to effectively navigate their service. Topics to be discussed include

• Texas Open Meetings Act
• Board Policy 
• School Law
• Board Operating Procedures
• Advocacy

BOI is a one-day training offering board officers tools to help them be more effective at managing and facilitating board meetings. The session will dive into Board Officer Roles and Responsibilities, Robert’s Rules of Order, and Managing Effective Meetings, among other topics.

Preregistration is required to attend TTI or BOI.

Key Programming

While Texas may have more than 1,000 school districts, most are small, which is why the Small School District Seminar continues to be a source of great interest for many trustees and administrators. The program, being held Sept. 12, is designed for districts with 999 or fewer students. It will include featured speaker Darryl Henson, superintendent of Marlin ISD, and will spotlight three small districts: Hearne, Henrietta, and Runge ISDs. There will also be a Legislative Update for Small Schools.

“Small districts have such very specific needs and concerns that we really try to provide them with the information and tools to help them be prepared to successfully navigate any challenges they may face,” said Jackie Clark Spencer, division director, events for TASB Communications, Marketing, and Events. This year, the seminar will be held at the Hilton Americas-Houston.

In addition, a number of pre-conference sessions will be held on Sept. 11, and preregistration is required.

The pre-conference session by the Council of School Attorneys will feature two panels of experienced school attorneys. The panels will offer a full three hours of continuing education credit, with the unique opportunity to hear from school law practitioners from multiple law firms and school district in-house counsel at the same time.

One panel will cover required content for the mandatory continuing education on Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect. Panelists will discuss new legislation on reporting educator misconduct. The second panel will focus on school district grievances and what legislative changes mean to that process. Other special required trainings will be offered, including:

• Post-Legislative Update, which fulfills trustees’ biennial training requirement
• Child Abuse Prevention
• Evaluating and Improving Student Outcomes: The Board’s Role in Continuous Improvement

General Sessions

Not only does txEDCON offer a myriad of training sessions for trustees and administrators, it also includes heart-warming student entertainment that leaves convention goers feeling inspired and motivated. This year, students from Kerrville ISD perform Sept. 12 and students from San Angelo ISD perform Sept. 13. Also, txEDCON wouldn’t be complete without engaging speakers who share stories of personal growth, leadership, and transformation. This year’s keynote speakers are:

• Kevin Brown is a motivational speaker and author who is passionate about helping people and organizations embrace a simple philosophy that separates world-class organizations and high-performance people from everybody else. He calls it The Hero Effect.
• Justine Froelker, a licensed professional counselor who has authored 12 books, shares a transformative program to help people and teams live and lead with self-awareness, authenticity, and resilience to build courage-centered leaders and cultures.
• Anthony Trucks is a former foster child, NFL football player, competitor on American Ninja Warrior, author, identity shift coach, and the founder of Dark Work and the creator of the Dark Work Experience. He teaches people how to access the power of their identity through Dark Work, tap into their full potential, and “Make Shift Happen!”

Also, the Superintendent of the Year will be announced on Friday, and the Outstanding School Board Award and Key Communicator Award will be presented on Saturday.

Delegate Assembly

One event held in conjunction with txEDCON that relies on member participation is Delegate Assembly.

Delegate Assembly is TASB’s official membership meeting, which is held every year in conjunction with txEDCON. As active members, each local school board and regional education service center board has the exclusive right to appoint a delegate and an alternative to represent their board and community. Delegates discuss and vote on a number of action items. The 2025 Assembly is Saturday, Sept. 13, at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

Trish Bode, a member of the Leander ISD board, president of the Central Texas School Board Association, and a member of the Leadership TASB Class of 2017, said she always attends and wouldn't miss participating in Delegate Assembly. “I am so thankful to get to be a part of that,” she said. “To get to talk to others about how policies and legislation are impacting them, and to be able, in a group to advocate for our kiddos and for our areas, and the things that we see we want to focus on as a group. I’m thankful for the discussions, the honesty, the vulnerability of that group.”

Registration, Exhibit Hall, and More

Registration for txEDCON 2025 is ongoing and leadership teams are encouraged to attend. The process has been simplified to automatically assign eligible members to the discounted registration option of “Leadership Team” at a discounted rate.

Attendees also will have the chance to visit TASB staff at txEDCON at the TASB booth, where Association representatives can answer members' questions about the TASB Advantage.

With so many concurrent session options available, attendees at past events may have found they had little time to visit the Exhibit Hall. But this year, time has been built in so they can scope it out, Spencer said. The opening reception on Sept. 11 has been extended and will be held from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m.

“The opening reception is a great opportunity to connect and network with other education leaders,” Spencer said.

Find a Convention ‘Buddy’

When she first began attending txEDCON, Bode said it was a little overwhelming to realize how many sessions and options were available. But she learned to choose the sessions that made the most sense for her and which ones she could share with her fellow board members.

For first timers attending txEDCON, Bode offers a suggestion: “I think finding a buddy just makes the learning richer,” she said. “It’s neat to debrief with someone after [a session].”

Bode said she hasn’t missed a year since she began her board service in 2015.

“I think the networking and the learning are valued and critical,” she said. “I love getting to talk to the other trustees. It gives you a space and a time to be able to see what other trustees in Texas are doing and how they’re doing it different, what works for them, and to be able to share best practices.”

Learn more about txEDCON and register!