The injunction gives Disability Rights Texas access to Klein ISD campuses without an escort and allows its staff to speak privately with students with disabilities. It also bars the district from retaliating against people who communicate with the advocacy group, according to FOX 26 Houston’s account of the judgment.
U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett signed the final judgment on September 28. The court ruled for Disability Rights Texas on claims against Superintendent Jenny McGown and school board President Cathy Arellano in their official capacities. It dismissed with prejudice a separate claim against McGown in her individual capacity, FOX 26 reported.
The order’s limits
The judgment sets terms for monitoring access; it does not determine whether any particular student experienced abuse or neglect, according to FOX 26’s report. The monitoring protocols included in the order were submitted by both sides in February 2026.
The order also addresses the events that preceded the lawsuit. Disability Rights Texas staff received verbal criminal trespass warnings at Benfer Elementary on September 15, 2023, after seeking to inspect special-education classrooms, FOX 26 reported. Under the judgment, those warnings do not bar access allowed by the injunction.
The district’s earlier position
Before the final judgment, Klein ISD defended its visitor rules as necessary for student privacy and campus security, according to FOX 26’s earlier report on the lawsuit. That account predates the ruling and does not establish the district’s response to the judgment.
Klein ISD special-education enrollment
Klein ISD started the 2024-25 school year with about 8,100 students in special education, and more than 700 students were in the evaluation process by mid-November, according to Community Impact, citing district officials. Those figures do not include total district enrollment, so they do not establish what share of all Klein ISD students receives special-education services.
