Keven Ellis was elected to the Texas State Board of Education in November 2016 and reelected in 2020 and 2022. Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Ellis chair twice, where he served from 2019 to 2023. Ellis is a member of the board’s Committee on School Finance/Permanent School Fund, which oversees agenda items related to the Permanent School Fund management and oversees of the Bond Guarantee Program.
In 2012, he was elected to the Lufkin ISD Board of Trustees and served as board president in 2015-16, resigning from that post after winning the seat on the state board. He served as vice-chair of the Texas Commission on Public School Finance in 2018. He currently serves as a board member for the Texas Permanent School Fund, chairing the Audit and Ethics Committee and, since 2019, represents Texas on the Education Commission of the States and serves on the finance committee for this organization.