Education
Elizabeth fa*gen, who has led the Houston-area school district since 2016, is among the finalists for a superintendent role in Reno, Nevada. Her husband, Troy Kite, recently retired as Humble ISD’s athletics director after an investigation into a Title IX complaint made against him reportedly determined that he should be fired.
Al Ortiz
A longtime athletics director at a Houston-area school district retired this month – while his job was in jeopardy over the findings of a Title IX investigation – and his wife, who is the district’s superintendent, could be on her way out as well.
Elizabeth fa*gen, who has served as Humble ISD's superintendent since 2016, is one of five finalists for the same role at Washoe County School District in Reno, Nevada, according to information posted online by the latter school district. fa*gen's husband, Troy Kite, who has worked for Humble ISD for more than two decades, submitted his retirement on April 8, a district spokesperson said.
On April 9, school board members for the district northeast of Houston had planned to determine the future employment of Kite, who was placed on paid administrative leave last May after Humble ISD's assistant athletic director made a Title IX complaint against him. District trustees ended up narrowly voting to publicly release the findings of the Title IX investigation, which determined that Kite had violated federal laws and created a hostile workplace environment through sexually-charged banter, according to multiple news reports.
The agenda for the April 9 board meeting also included an item "to consider and take possible action regarding employment and duties" of fa*gen, although the item was ultimately withdrawn after trustees met in closed session. Still, board members Martina Lemond Dixon, Marques Holmes and Robert Sitton said they disapproved of fa*gen's job being called into question, touting her accomplishments within the district, and Lemond Dixon criticized school board president Robert Scarfo for placing the item on the agenda.
"I am furious this evening of the idea that (fa*gen's) team has been disparaged and attacked by different people and that she would have an agenda item on this agenda tonight that is unwarranted," Lemond Dixon said during the meeting. "We are better than this, and I for one cannot stomach it. I hope our board can get our act together so we can move forward and do what's best for the students in this district. I'm asking for leadership to head in that direction."
Neither Scarfo nor Humble ISD, which serves nearly 50,000 students, responded to emailed questions Wednesday seeking their reaction to Kite's retirement and fa*gen's pursuit of a job in another state. fa*gen did not respond to an email seeking comment about her pursuit of the job in Nevada and how that might be related to the Title IX investigation into her husband, although she said through a district spokesperson that she recused herself from the matter shortly after the complaint was made last May.
Kite, who became Humble ISD's athletics and fine arts director in 2008 after previously serving as the boys basketball coach at Humble High School, could not be reached for comment Wednesday. He and fa*gen married in 2023, according to a district spokesperson.
Title IX of the federal Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment in education programs that receive federal funding.
Although Humble ISD trustees voted on April 9 to release the findings of the investigation into Kite, instead of continuing to seek the Texas Attorney General's opinion on whether the records could legally be withheld, the district did not immediately provide the report as requested by Houston Public Media. According to news reports by the Houston Chronicle and Houston Landing, the Title IX investigator enlisted by the school district recommended on Feb. 9 that Kite should be fired because of his workplace behavior and his role in fostering a "locker room" atmosphere within the athletics department.
fa*gen's cover letter in her application for the job in Nevada is dated Feb. 17, according to a copy of the letter posted on the Washoe County School District website. She wrote that she and her husband first visited Reno last October and "fell in love with the city and the entire area."
"He and I talked and dreamed almost everyday about how much we would love to live there – finish our careers and retire in Reno," fa*gen also wrote.
