Dallas barber-school director asks TDLR for clearer communications and exam reporting amid consolidation

During public comment at the TDLR Barbering and Cosmetology Advisory Board’s inaugural meeting, Lily Benitez, founder and director of Blake Craft Barber Academy in Dallas, appealed for clearer agency communications about statutory changes and asked the board to press staff for more transparent exam and school performance data.

Benitez said an agency email announcing licensing changes created confusion among licensees, with some recipients mistakenly thinking Class A barber licenses or cosmetology operator licenses had been replaced by an ‘‘aesthetics holding’’ license. She asked that a member of the advisory board review communications for clarity before they are distributed and suggested a clarifying sentence in future notices: that Class A barber licenses would not be impacted.

Benitez also urged the board to require more consistent reporting back to schools from PSI, the agency’s exam vendor, including written and practical exam results and pass rates so schools can better prepare students. "All of the schools should have a grade or a report or a result of the written exams and the practical exams," she said.

TDLR staff later addressed several of these concerns during staff reports and Q&A. Ray Pizarro (Education & Examination) clarified that core practitioner names such as "class A barber" and "cosmetology operator" will remain in law and rules and that some underlying license-type titles will change as part of the statutory consolidation; staff committed to clear public communications, summits, and website updates to minimize confusion.

The request for clearer messaging and more exam transparency was one of the few public comments received for the meeting; staff provided an advisory email address for follow-up (advisory.boards@TDLR.Texas.gov).