Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from TexasISD.com!  We will not post Wednesday, November 21 - Friday, November 23. We will resume posting on Monday, November 26. We hope you will have a safe and happy holiday!

Superintendent Search: Hull-Daisetta ISD has announced a Lone Finalist

Hull-Daisetta ISD Board of Trustees has chosen Tim Bartram, Superintendent of Aspermont ISD, as Lone Finalist of Hull-Daisetta ISD Superintendent of Schools. Details and updates will continue to appear on our search page as things progress. 

Superintendent Search: Kennedale ISD Hires New Superintendent

Kennedale ISD Board of Trustees voted to hire Chad Gee, Superintendent of Yorktown ISD, as the district’s new superintendent for Kennedale ISD Superintendent of Schools. Details and updates will continue to appear on our search page as things progress.

Energy companies lose $1 trillion in value as crude price plummets

The oil and gas sector worldwide lost about $1 trillion in value during a 40-day period that began in early early October and culminated last week with a record 12th straight day of oil price declines — including the worst single-day drop in three years. Crude prices in New York commodity markets slid more that 25 percent during that period, from a recent peak above $76 a barrel to less than $56, and took oil and gas stock prices with them. Energy stocks included in the S&P 500 Index shed nearly $240 billion in value during those 40 days view article  

La Vernia ISD relieves superintendent of duties

Dr. Trent Lovette, La Vernia Independent School District superintendent, has been relieved of his duties and placed on paid administrative leave, pending an investigation. The decision was made by the district trustees following an almost 2-hour closed session during a special called board meeting that began at 6pm Sunday night.   Lovette has been with the district since the spring, replacing Dr. Jose Moreno.  view article  

Superintendent Search: Santa Rosa ISD Hires TASB Executive Search Services to conduct search

Santa Rosa ISD Board of Trustees voted to hire TASB Executive Search Services (ESS) to conduct a search for a new superintendent. Details and updates will appear on our search page as things progress

Superintendent Search: Whitewright ISD Hires TASB Executive Search Services to conduct search

Whitewright ISD Board of Trustees voted to hire TASB Executive Search Services (ESS) to conduct a search for a new superintendent. Details and updates will appear on our search page as things progress.

Former Decatur ISD superintendent chosen as Spring Hill ISD interim chief

Spring Hill ISD trustees chose Decatur ISD’s former chief as the district’s interim superintendent Thursday, Board President Mark White said.  Rod Townsend will start on Nov. 26, the Monday after the district’s Thanksgiving break, White said. Townsend will come to the district with than 20 years of administrative experience and retired from Decatur ISD after seven years as superintendent.  The trustees voted Monday to interview candidates after Superintendent Steve Snell accepted a job at Liberty Hill ISD last week. All of the candidates for interim chief were highly recommended and “extremely good,” White said. view article  

Equity Center, Legislative Update

Wednesday, November 14, the Texas Commission on Public School Finance Revenues Working Group met to hear invited testimony and discuss possible revenue option recommendations to make back to the full commission.  While several stakeholder groups made recommendations as to how the state should address the revenue aspect of school finance reform, the highlight was Senior Advisor for Fiscal Affairs to the Governor, Tommy Williams (former Senate Finance Committee Chairman), presenting the governor's property tax and school finance reform plan that was released recently.  The commission has just over a month to complete its official report and is expected to meet again after the Thanksgiving Holidays. Click here to view the archived hearing video and you can view the stakeholder presentations from the hearing here at the Texas Commission on Public School Finance web page. view article  

Alvin ISD superintendent announces retirement

Alvin ISD Superintendent Buck Gilcrease announced Tuesday evening that he will retire once the district's board of trustees names a new leader in the spring of 2019. Gilcrease, who has been with the district since 2014, became eligible for retirement last year. He told those gathered at a regular school board meeting that serving as the Brazoria County ISD's superintendent was the highlight of his career. view article  

New From TEA

• Required Residential Facility Tracker Data Collection – Students with Disabilities 11/16
• Official Notification of the 2017–2018 Release of Final FIRST Ratings 11/16
• Statewide Indirect Cost Rate Proposal and Additional Costs Workbook Training 11/16
• 2018-2019 Performance-Based Monitoring Analysis System (PBMAS) Staging 10/29
• Update Regarding 2018-2019 Texas Partnerships (SB 1882) 10/29
• Request for Letters of Interest for 2019-2020 Math Innovation Zones Planning and Execution Grants - Update 10/24
• 2019–2020 Annual Survey of Children in Local Residential Facilities for the Neglected/Delinquent (SC9000) 10/24
• Extended Deadline for the Application for Texas Reviewers for Instructional Materials Quality Evaluation Pilot 10/24
• 2018-19 Annual Fingerprinting Certification and Statement of Compliance 10/23
• Attendance Projections for the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 School Years
• Financial Hardship Transition Program and Adjustment for Rapid Decline in Taxable Value of Property 10/4

Preventive Law: Serving Parentally-Placed Private School Students with Disabilities in Public Schools

It is sometimes unclear what a public school district’s duty is when it comes to serving children with disabilities placed by their parents in private schools. Further complicating matters is the fact that sometimes a private school student requesting services can reside in the boundaries of one district and attend a private school in the boundaries of another district. What follows is a simplified list of steps to follow, and an explanation of each step, when evaluating a district’s responsibility to a private school student.

18th Annual Seminar on School Finance and Legal Issues

Valuable legislative updates from presenters who are working for the children of Texas. One-on-one sessions with the state’s keenest school finance and legal minds. Perfect conference for Superintendents, Business Officials, and Board Members.Excellent networking opportunity view article  

After Amazon slam, here’s the tough love that Dallas and Texas need to hear about HQ2

Soon after learning that Dallas wouldn’t be getting Amazon’s second headquarters, the Dallas Regional Chamber put out a statement.  “Make no mistake,” CEO Dale Petroskey said in the news release, “this has been a ‘win’ for our region regardless of the outcome.”  Say what? Dallas not only failed to land Amazon HQ2. It fell short on HQ3, too. And HQ4. view article  

Judge halts moving of remains found in unmarked graves in Fort Bend County

A judge has ruled to put moving the remains of 95 bodies exhumed from an unmarked cemetery on hold in Fort Bend County. On Monday, the judge said the remains will stay where they were found for now. Construction crews discovered the cemetery back in April after they began work on building a $59 million career and technical center. view article  

Democrats in the Texas House ponder life with Dennis Bonnen as speaker

Democrats in the Texas House were feeling good in the days after this year’s election. They had just picked up 12 seats in the lower chamber, chipping away at the GOP’s massive majority. And the caucus chair, state Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie, was working to organize members in hopes of swaying the race to become the next House speaker. But less than a week after Election Day, the speaker’s race ended before Democrats could find a candidate to coalesce behind. One by one, those in the race to replace the retiring Republican Joe Straus had dropped out.  view article  

#TXLEGE SPEAKER’S RACE

Members of the Texas House are handling the reality that state Rep. Dennis Bonnen, an Angleton Republican, is poised to become the next speaker. Nearly half of the 67 Democrats who will serve in the House next year have signed on to support Bonnen. Other members, the Tribune’s Alex Samuels reports, are now wondering what a House with Bonnen at the helm could mean for them — and whether they should get on board with the idea.  view article  

Jon Engelhardt, Board of Contributors: Why fixing public education is such an infernal hassle

In the United States, we have long held that universal, free (that is, tax-supported) public education for youth is a fundamental responsibility of society and serves as a basic community resource, providing a pathway to understand democracy, exercise responsible citizenship, explore the world’s accumulated knowledge, appreciate American culture and prepare for a world of work in which we ultimately attain economic security. However, extending from the first taxpayer-supported school in 1639, attaining free public education for all children has been a bumpy evolution, fraught with issues of both race and religion. view article  

Bonnen claims House Speaker post with strong leadership and sharp elbows

The Texas House will have a new leader come January, and Rep. Dennis Bonnen says he’s it. The Republican from Angleton, southeast of Houston, is already planning his swearing-in ceremony, although the vote of the 150-member House is seven weeks away. Bonnen, a shrewd tactician who has served in the Texas House since he was 24, has a reason to be confident. He has amassed 109 pledges of support, from Republicans as well as 31 Democrats. view article  

Report: Texas kids should be Legislature’s priority

Texas children lag behind their peers across the country in educational opportunities, access to health care and financial secruity, according to a report released Thursday. Ahead of the 2019 legislative session, the “State of Texas Children” report, compiled by the Center for Public Policy Priorities, recommends ways to close gaps in children’s opportunities based on race, ethnicity, gender and class. view article  

Kids in Desperate Need of Action from Next Legislature, New Report Says

The 2019 Texas Legislature must act on behalf of children in the state, or risk that they will fall further behind their peers in the rest of the United States, according to a new report from Austin's Center for Public Policy Priorities. The report also emphasizes the need for an accurate census in 2020 in order to ensure that kids in Texas receive all the help from federal funds to which they are entitled. Texas families with kids need all the help they can get, according to the report, because 20 percent of the state's 7.4 million children live below the federal poverty line. Black and Hispanic children are three times more likely to fall below the poverty line than white or Asian kids, and nearly 40 percent of all families headed by single mothers live in poverty. Despite gains made since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, more than 670,000 Texas kids still don't have health insurance. view article  

Wanted: State funding for education

There is something missing in Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan to fix school finance in Texas: state funding. This is a key ingredient because it’s hard to imagine school finance getting fixed if the state doesn’t provide appropriate funding for public education. That process starts with Abbott and other state leaders identifying funding sources for education. view article  

Private school vouchers, once Texas GOP priority, see diminished support

At least a half-dozen newly elected legislators oppose the idea, amid widespread Democratic gains. In past sessions, Democrats and rural Republicans, concerned that a voucher system would erode traditional public schools, blocked all voucher measures in the House. Voucher bills have easily passed the GOP-dominated Senate. Proponents call the idea “school choice” because it would give some students the option to leave poorly rated neighborhood public schools for private ones. view article  

Judge: Ejecting teacher from school board meeting broke law

A Louisiana school board violated the state's open meetings law by ejecting a teacher who spoke out against giving the superintendent a $30,000 raise, a state judge has ruled. Judge David Smith also threw out the raise given Jan. 8 to Vermilion Parish Schools Superintendent Jerome Puyau (PEE-oh), who returned to work this month despite a 6-2 school board vote putting him on paid leave. Neither Puyau nor teacher Deyshia Hargrave, who was told at that meeting that her comments had nothing to do with the agenda and was ordered to leave after she continued to speak, could immediately be reached for comment. School offices are closed for Thanksgiving and Puyau did not respond to an email; Hargrave did not immediately respond to a phone message. view article  

Red Oak ISD names new chief financial officer

After the Red Oak ISD Board of Trustees reconvened from a recent closed session, they approved the personnel report that included the hiring of a new chief financial officer. Red Oak ISD Superintendent Michael Goddard announced the hiring of William Johnston to replace retiring chief financial officer, Vickie Benbow. The board unanimously approved the hire at the Nov.12 meeting. Benbow will retire after she served more than 23 years in Texas public education, the last six as ROISD CFO. Prior to Red Oak, she worked in finance in several Texas districts including Rockwall and Allen ISDs, and as a CPA auditor for several years. Benbow has served on the Texas Skyward User Group Steering Committee and is a Registered Texas School Business Administrator through. view article  

Despite prior differences, hardline conservatives cautiously optimistic about Dennis Bonnen as speaker

It was a Sunday night in the middle of August, and the Texas House Freedom Caucus had grown frustrated with state Rep. Dennis Bonnen. Bonnen, an Angleton Republican who had been tasked with shepherding the House’s property tax measure through the lower chamber, wanted to postpone a final vote on the bill until the next morning. State Rep. Matt Schaefer, a Tyler Republican and chairman of the Freedom Caucus, wanted to nudge the issue closer to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk for a signature. Bonnen said he needed time to handle negotiations between the two chambers. “Can’t we walk and chew gum at the same time?” Schaefer asked Bonnen from the back microphone on the House floor. The chamber was tense, and members were tired. The Texas Legislature was burning through the final hours of the special legislative session trying to hammer out a compromise on Abbott’s No. 1 issue. view article  

Judge delays decision on reburial of 95 remains at Fort Bend ISD site

A judge on Monday tentatively set a March deadline to decide on the reburial of 95 human remains discovered at a Fort Bend ISD construction site—— putting the district's plans in limbo. It had sought to move the remains to nearby Old Imperial Farm Cemetery. "I'm not going to give that permission until I'm convinced we've given a good try for all who are concerned to achieve the goals they'd like to see achieved," said Fort Bend District Judge James H. Shoemake during a court hearing Monday morning in Richmond. view article  

TOP LYS TWEETS – NOVEMBER 19, 2018

If you are not following @LYSNation on Twitter, then you missed the Top 10 LYS tweets from the past week when they were first posted.  And if you are on Twitter, you might want to check out the Tweeters who made this week’s list. view article  

BRADY BRIEFING: GIVING THANKS

When not working in Washington I get to work in the district, listening and learning about the concerns of constituents. One of the highlights of the last few weeks was visiting the new state-of-the-art Career and Technology Center at Willis ISD. Director Travis Utecht gave me a tour and I was impressed by the facility and the dedication of the instructors. Institutions like this are a vital part of helping students prepare for the 21st Century American economy. It’s great to have a world-class example in our district. I also attended the reopening of the Conroe Tenaris plant, and learned it means 100 new jobs in our district. Thanks to tax reform and the rolling back of regulations, the American economy is booming, but it’s extra special when families right here are impacted in a positive way. view article  

Sugar Land 95: What happened from discovery of bodies to today

Nearly 100 remains believed to be those of slaves were found back in April during construction on land off Highway 90 that belongs to Fort Bend ISD. Here is what has happened so far since their discovery: view article  

Muenster ISD to fill post vacated by former teacher

A replacement for a former Muenster High School teacher who is under investigation by the Texas Rangers could be named soon. Muenster Junior High and High School Principal John York told members of the Muenster Independent School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday, Nov. 14 that district officials have interviewed three people for the family and consumer sciences position and have “narrowed it to two.” “I don’t think we can go wrong with either one of them,” York said. view article  

‘Accountability’ designation to benefit students at Pasadena career high school

When seniors at the Dr. Kirk Lewis Career and Technical High School in Pasadena ISD receive diplomas in the spring, something will be different. This time, instead of listing the name of one of the district’s five traditional high schools, the diplomas will bear the name of the Lewis campus, Principal Steven Fleming said. Trustees unanimously voted Sept. 25 to recognize that campus as a “school of accountability,” which will help students gain easier acceptance to college and universities and qualify for scholarships, Fleming said. The status will remove a confusing paper trail that might hamper job searches, Fleming said. The achievement was something administrators had intended for the school since it opened in 2014. The school, 1348 Genoa Red Bluff Road, is an application-based school of choice for students in grades 9-12 that focuses on career readiness. Enrollment is 1,400. view article