In February 2013, Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams said that the one-year reprieve was over and ordered the closure of North Forest ISD and recommended its annexation by Houston Independent School District by July 1, 2013. Houston Independent School District board members discussed how a takeover might be implemented; Dianna Wray of the "Houston Press" wrote: "It seemed as if all nine of them were choosing their words carefully, making it clear they were only following state orders." Gayle Fallon, the Houston Federation of Teachers president, stated that HISD could not publicly accept the district since it would appear greedy, nor could it publicly reject NFISD since it would appear to be racist against black people. Fallon argued that HISD saw an economic advantage to absorbing NFISD.