The board that governs the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired votes Friday morning on an audit of how the school investigates abuse and neglect complaints against its own staff — then, later the same day, amends the policy that audit examined.
The arrangement being audited is set by statute. When a student on the Austin campus is reported abused, neglected or exploited by an employee, the Texas Family Code makes the school itself the investigating agency, though it must also hand every report it receives to law enforcement. State law says that procedure has to be reviewed periodically through the school’s internal audit program. The school’s own policy sets the floor at once every three years. Trustees see the auditor’s report as item 7.
Nine items later they vote on rewriting the policy, FFG, which tells staff what to report, to whom and how fast. The school’s published log shows it was last amended in May 2021 and reviewed in 2022, 2023 and 2025, with no entry for 2024 or 2026 — though the same policy commits the board to review it every year. That reading comes off the school’s website and has not been confirmed with the agency. Nothing posted explains what the amendment does; the board book carrying the redline was not online before publication.
A new trustee takes the oath at the top of the meeting. The Governor appointed Rusty Peterson of Allen to the board on July 24 for a term ending in January. He is a JP Morgan Chase executive and a certified public accountant who belongs to the Institute of Internal Auditors. The school’s roster page still lists nine members and does not say whose seat he takes.
The money is elsewhere on the list. Trustees adopt the operating and personnel budget for 2026-27, approve the funding request the school will send the Legislature for the 2028-29 cycle, set Superintendent Emily Coleman’s salary and hear a separate 2026 audit of campus safety. Two items — a personnel update and a lawyer’s briefing on a student legal matter — may be closed to the public.
Meeting at a glance
- When
- 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. CT Friday, August 7, 2026. The board’s last full meeting was July 6.
- Where
- Board Meeting Room, Building 600, 1100 West 45th Street, Austin 78756.
- Governing body & chair
- Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired Board of Trustees — nine Governor-appointed members, in three seat categories of three. Lee Sonnenberg, board president.
- Format
- In person and on Zoom. Public comment is item 5; sign up on site or contact Susan Houghtling, 512-206-9233, beforehand. Two items may go to closed session.
- Live video
- Zoom, meeting 870 4495 7697, linked from the school’s event page.
- Full agenda
- Secretary of State Open Meeting Viewer · Board page
Board members
- Lee Sonnenberg, Lubbock — board president; parent representative. Term to 2031.
- Julie Prause — board vice president; educator seat. Term to 2029.
- Dan Brown Jr. — board secretary; consumer seat. Term to 2029.
- Maghan Gautney — parent representative; program committee vice chair. Term to 2027.
- Hillary Rodriguez — parent representative; chairs the personnel committee. Term to 2029.
- Brenda Lee — educator seat; audit committee vice chair. Term to 2027.
- Belinda Rudinger, Ed.D. — educator seat; program committee. Term to 2031.
- Beth Jones, Ph.D., Anna — consumer seat; chairs program committee. Term to 2031.
- Ernest Worthington, Lancaster — consumer seat; chairs audit committee. Term to 2027.
Roster: the school’s own trustees page, which groups the nine seats into three statutory categories: consumers who are blind or visually impaired, parents of a person who is, and people who work with them. It lists the campus address for most members, so only two hometowns are given above; Sonnenberg’s is from the Governor’s appointment announcement. The page’s officer designations carry effective dates from 2020 and may be out of date, though Friday’s agenda has Sonnenberg leading the governance items. Staff: Emily Coleman, superintendent.