by Juhi Varma
Pattison — Jessica Ervin, a former Royal ISD Behavior Specialist and mother of three, spoke during public comment at the June 15 Royal ISD board meeting. She described what she called repeated failures by the district to provide timely special education evaluations and support for her two older children.
Ervin, who now works as a Behavior Specialist with Katy ISD, has asked Royal ISD to provide $3,000 in financial compensation, claiming that delays in testing and services prevented her son, 10, and daughter, 15, from receiving $1,500 Parent-Directed Special Education Services (PDSES) grants.
Ervin said she left her position with Royal ISD in 2025 after being pressured to resign.
“Maybe if I speak up, it’ll start a trend for people to feel comfortable actually speaking, because I know some people are fearful of retaliation,” Ervin said in an interview. “I have the opportunity to send my kids to a different district because I’m an educator, but others don’t have that opportunity, so they keep quiet.”
Ervin’s two older children now attend school in Katy ISD. Her youngest child is two years old. Although she no longer fears retaliation against her own family, she said she attended the meeting to speak on behalf of other parents in the small, rural district.
Unlike Katy ISD, Fort Bend ISD and Lamar CISD, Royal ISD does not livestream its school board meetings. It serves a student population that is predominantly Black and Hispanic. Ervin noted that during the height of ICE raids earlier this year, the district’s six schools saw a noticeable drop in attendance.
Royal ISD Board Members
In a general statement, Royal ISD said it takes its obligations to students seriously and works to provide services in compliance with state and federal law but noted that student privacy laws prevent it from commenting on individual matters.
“The district remains committed to ensuring that all applicable special education timelines are met and that all procedural safeguards required by state and federal law are consistently followed,” Royal ISD’s Gracie Espinoza said in an emailed statement.
Systemic failures and delays:
Ervin said her two older children were still dealing with significant family trauma. In 2024 the family had been victims of a crime, she said, and she had requested evaluations so her children could receive the help they were legally entitled to.
Instead, she said the delays caused them to miss the April 30, 2026 deadline for a combined $3,000 in PDSES grants that could have provided critical psychological support.
Ervin said her 10-year-old son was denied access to education from February 24 through March 26, 2026, forcing her to teach him at home while working full time. She claimed she requested initial special education testing in September 2025, but evaluations only began in late March after she filed complaints with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and hired advocates.
In an email dated November 18, 2025, to Assistant Principal Carrie Lentz, Ervin addressed her son’s behavioral challenges. She wrote: “Regarding the practices put in place, there has been no actual implementation. There is constant complaining, but I have seen no practices put in place by the adults, only consequences.”
She said the district attempted to assign her son to a District Alternative Education Program (DAEP) campus, even though he was nine years old at the time, and not old enough to attend the program.
Ervin also spoke about her 15-year-old daughter, a gifted and talented student, who faced bullying. She alleged the school placed her daughter directly next to the bully and later threatened to suspend her instead of the student who was bullying her.
Sharing screencaps of parents’ frustrated comments with Royal ISD, Ervin told The Katy News that her family’s experience is not isolated.
“This is why we moved away from this school district,” wrote one parent. “My daughter was not IEP but regardless physically harmed by another student and nothing was done.”
Another parent wrote-
“These stories are the reason why myself and many countless other families drive an hour round trip, 2x a day, to take our children to public charter schools in Katy… I have heard COUNTLESS tales of the ignorant and inept staff at this school.”
When asked directly whether Royal ISD would compensate Jessica Ervin, whether it acknowledges any failures, and whether it is aware of families leaving Royal ISD due to similar issues, the district did not respond.
As a licensed educator, administrator, and behavior specialist, Ervin said she recognized that the district’s practices were not in compliance with legal requirements.
“I saw the amount of people in the community who had similar concerns or children in special education not receiving help,” she said. “I wanted to make mention of that on a broader scale, because it was not being heard.”
