SOCORRO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — The Texas Education Agency has appointed two conservators for the Socorro Independent School District on Thursday. The TEA appointed Dr. Michael Hinojosa as the lead conservator and Andrew Kim as a conservator to specifically focus on the system improvements to Socorro ISD. According to TEA, the conservators will provide TEA assurances that the district makes every effort to comply with applicable statutes and regulations. view article

The district also had more than 80 schools with high lead levels in drinking water sources, according to analysis conducted in fall 2023.  Nearly every Houston ISD campus failed to meet at least one indoor environmental quality recommendation in 2023, including irregular indoor temperature, abnormal carbon dioxide levels and high lead levels in drinking water, according to findings from a recent assessment of district facilities. Professional Service Industries, a construction engineering consulting firm, conducted a review of indoor environmental quality parameters that could impact “general environmental comfort,” airborne contaminants, lead levels in drinking water, moisture issues and secondary water damage in 259 HISD schools from Sept. 30 to Dec. 5.  view article

Two Houston ISD high schools continue to rank among the best 10 public secondary schools in the state, according to the 2024 rankings from U.S. News & World Report.  U.S. News listed Carnegie Vanguard High School at No. 5 and DeBakey High School for Health Professions as No. 8 in Texas in its annual ratings Tuesday. The two HISD high schools also were ranked as No. 31 and No. 70, respectively, in the U.S. among a list of nearly 17,660 charter, magnet and traditional public schools.The annual review ranks schools based on six factors: college readiness, student performance on Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and state standardized exams, graduation rates and academic outcomes for Black, Hispanic and low-income students. The data is based on scores from exams taken during the 2021-2022 academic year. view article

TEXAS, USA — UPDATE: 'A constant insane amount of pressure' | Central Texas mom opts student out of STAAR test, despite TEA saying the law does not allow for it Texans are taking action against the state's testing program, known as STAAR. Parents are opting out of the assessment which is possible but not easy. A minimum of 95% of students must participate in STAAR testing or the state might penalize the district, according to the Texas Education Agency (TEA). However, students and parents face no consequences for opting out. view article

After a presentation by Quitman Elementary School Principal Kelli Fortner, the Quitman School Board decided to purchase a new science curriculum for students in kindergarten through fifth grade. The purchase is a cutting-edge textbook and lab kit set from McGraw-Hill. QISD will be purchasing the curriculum for $50,924. Fortner mentioned that the kits are “non-consumable,” so they will be able to be re-used. The board also approved the annual agreement between Tyler Junior College and QISD. There are only a few changes in 2024’s MOU, as Superintendent Chris Mason mentioned. The only significant change, Mason says, is that “we actually expect that our dual credit cost (will) go down.” One item of interest at the meeting was Jordan Watts and Abby Day acting out a scene from Quitman High School’s recent one-act play, “The Lost Boy.” In the production, Watts plays J.M. Barrie (the author of “Peter Pan”), and Day plays Barrie’s mother. view article

Leander ISD has made progress in recruiting and retaining staff members over the last two school years, according to new district data presented at an April 11 board of trustees meeting. The improvements follow a couple years of increased vacancies amid a nation- and statewide teaching shortage; however, some vacancies still exist in the district, LISD officials said. By the numbers District data shows LISD retained 81% of all staff members last school year compared to 76% in the 2021-22 school year. Among teachers, the district retained 84% in 2022-23 compared to 79% in 2021-22. The district also improved retention amongst special education teachers at a slightly lower rate, retaining 81% of special education teachers last school year versus 78% in 2021-22. view article

‘Worse than COVID’: 41% fewer Texas students completed FAFSA this year  Texas saw one of the most dramatic drops in high schoolers completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid as the nation contends with a rocky rollout of the new FAFSA.  In the Dallas area, schools experienced significant decreases – some of them as large as 30 percentage-point drops, according to an analysis of federal data by The Dallas Morning News. In Dallas ISD, for example, only about 35% of seniors completed the form by April 5 compared to over 60% last year, according to the federal data. view article

STAAR testing statewide has kicked off this month and some parents in Houston ISD are choosing to allow their students to opt out of the state-mandated test. The Texas Education Agency recognizes the STAAR (the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness) exam as a state-mandated test designed to measure the extent to which a student has learned and is able to demonstrate they have mastered the curriculum at each grade level. view article

The Texas Education Agency appointed two conservators on Thursday to manage the Socorro Independent School District after a state investigation exposed widespread failings for improperly graduating students, failing to disclose a trustee’s potential conflict of interest with a vendor, and paying $283,000 in unauthorized stipends. view article

HUDSON — National Merit Scholar Finalists are a rarity. In fact, Hudson High School had only had three in its history prior to this year. Now they can add two more to that list as Scott Cassels and Joey Dunning were each honored with the prestigious award. In addition, they will both receive full-ride scholarships when they enroll at the University of Texas-Dallas for the fall semester. "It means a lot to me," Cassels said. "To be able to be judged for what you accomplished is important." In order to be eligible for the award, students must first have an outstanding PSAT score. Each year, the top 50,000 PSAT scores get commendation letters from the National Merit program. Of those, 16,000 qualify as semifinalists. Of those semifinalists, 15,000 will be considered finalists, with half of those finalists eventually chosen as Merit Scholarship winners. In order to become a finalist, those going through the process must complete an application, have a high academic performance throughout high school and be fully endorsed for a National Merit Scholarship by their high school principal. UT-Dallas is considered a priority school, meaning it covers scholarships for those who choose to attend it. view article

The latest: The board of trustees approved the new instructional materials and voted to transfer $2.3 million from the district’s general fund balance to cover their cost after receiving less state funding than anticipated, district officials said at an April 11 meeting. The context: The new materials come as the State Board of Education approved new materials in K-12 science, K-8 technology applications, high school financial literacy and economics, and some CTE courses, according to the Texas Education Agency. view article

An undisclosed number of teachers working at Great Hearts, a charter school with locations in San Antonio, have been placed on administrative leave after the Texas Education Agency found that background paperwork, including fingerprinting, had been improperly filed with the state.  In an email sent to parents earlier this week, interim superintendent of Great Hearts Texas Kurtis Indorf said the issues were discovered during a review of HR-related compliance measures by the agency, which is currently investigating the district. view article

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Students and faculty over at Tuloso-Midway Independent School District experienced a temporary internet outage that primarily affected the intermediate school as STAAR testing was supposed to begin. The outage being caused by a downed powerline. view article

Bryan ISD elementary schools held pep rallies and events last week to encourage students before STAAR testing week. Bonham, Bowen, Henderson, and Jones Elementary had guests and teachers cheer them on before the week began. The district said that the older students have already been in testing mode, and they wish all students the best of luck on the state tests. view article

Waco, TX (FOX 44) — We’re in the middle of STAAR testing and school districts in our area have made instructional changes in the classroom to help students meet the mark.  Waco and Academy ISD say they’re closing the gap on where student test scores were before Covid-19.  Waco ISD used funds during Covid-19 to get additional intervention specialists to help students who were falling behind.  “Our campuses have now incorporated that for next year into their campus budgets because we know that’s so important, so [we’re] really trying to provide extra intervention and really intervention that is really aligned from early elementary all the way up through high school,” said Deena Cornblum, Waco ISD Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction. view article

The child care system is built well in Texas, but leaders are not using it to its fullest to deliver on affordability for parents and living wages for early educators, according to three state leaders. Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, Education Commissioner Mike Morath and Texas Workforce Commission Chairman Bryan Daniel discussed how the state can unleash the full potential of early education. The April 11 conversation was part of the Momentum Early Learning Summit, an invitation-only statewide conference hosted during off years of the Legislature. view article

It’s happening! In big ways and small ways, students across the district are celebrating our “Portrait of a Graduate.” In the past week, teachers have been sharing lessons about one of our five key character traits: Effective Communicators. Students earn certificates when they master the essential skill. Here’s just one example: Ms. Dionna Griffin at Drew Elementary School explained different communication methods and followed up her mini-lesson with candy for compliments. The more certificates our elementary students collect, the closer they move toward a popsicle party in May. Our Cougars are committed to ensuring our “Portrait of a Graduate” comes to life. These are skills we want to instill in students from kindergarten through 12th grade and beyond: Kind, Goal-Oriented, Service-Minded, Emotionally Intelligent, and Effective Communicators. view article

As a 14-year-old sophomore at McAllen High School, Abby Martinez says she has a passion for learning. When she was 4 years old, Abby was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Her mother — Eunice Martinez — reached out to McAllen ISD for help. “Within two weeks that I reached out to them, we were having her evaluated, diagnosed, and enrolled,” Eunice said. Abby is one of 43 students on the autism spectrum enrolled at McAllen High School. “We strive in providing a more inclusive environment where we include students in all of our programs, and all of our classes, and all of our certification programs as well,” McAllen ISD Special Education Coordinator Leonel Ramirez said. “We also provide other services such as counseling, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech therapy." The district also offers a Strides 18+ program, where students with special needs over the age of 18 get help to become more independent, and transition into the workforce. view article

Trustee David Wilbanks has noticed a pattern among Arlington ISD eighth graders’ math scores. The scores dipped steeply during the pandemic and have not improved despite the district’s “aggressive” goals, Wilbanks said. Every year, a specific group seems to have the worst performance. view article

The UIL academic team competed in the district competition this past week in ready writing, headline writing, current events, spelling, science, debate and social studies. Walt Truelove and Jayden Townsend competed in headline writing on Tuesday. Jayden grabbed a second place finish, qualifying for region individually. On Saturday, Denise Corona, Angie Pham, Walt Truelove and Jayden Towsend competed in current events, where they placed first as a team, besting the second place team (Hallsville) by 15 points. view article

Texas is getting closer to seeing 100 school districts across the state ditch the traditional 5-day school week and adopt a 4-day week. And there is a chance, the state will move past 100 districts adopting that plan soon. Abernathy ISD is just the latest school districting voting to move to a 4-day school week starting in the 2024-2025 school year. The district located 18 miles north of Lubbock will take Friday as their day off. At least 83 other school districts across Texas have made similar moves in order to deal with teacher shortages and amid struggles with attendance rates and funding. Read More: Another West Texas School District Is Moving To A 4-Day Week | https://kfyo.com/another-west-texas-school-district-is-moving-to-a-4-day-week-will-lubbock-schools-follow/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral view article

A state-appointed board of managers overseeing the La Joya Independent School District is set to consider the policy this week.  Certain school district employees in the Rio Grande Valley may be prohibited from holding elected office under a new proposed policy.  A state-appointed board of managers selected to oversee the La Joya Independent School District is set to consider banning employees in supervisory positions from holding elected office or from running for elected office at a meeting Thursday. The proposal is part of the district's efforts to correct course following a slew of corruption charges against two school board trustees and three employees.  Their indictment and subsequent guilty pleas prompted an investigation by the state into further allegations of fraud within the district, which resulted in the temporary installment of the board of managers in February.  The proposed policy would restrict employees from holding an elected public office or being a candidate for such an office within Hidalgo County or any county within the state that has direct or indirect contractual relations with La Joya ISD. view article

HISD Superintendent Mike Miles said he will recommend that the board of managers reverse the addition of an English-only pre-kindergarten track at Helms and Wharton dual-language schools at their meeting on April 11, 2024 view article

State Reps. Christina Morales and Penny Morales Shaw, two Democrats who represent parts of Houston, made a long-planned visit Tuesday to the public school district that serves their city. They toured Wainwright Elementary in the northwest part of town, Morales said, and among other observations noticed that timers were being used as part of lesson plans, a feature of the New Education System (NES) under state-appointed Houston ISD superintendent Mike Miles. Morales said they also were told a learning coach for students who speak Spanish, and complete assignments in Spanish, did not speak the language and therefore could not provide assistance. view article

The state will save more than $15 million by using technology similar to ChatGPT to give initial scores, reducing the number of human graders needed. The decision caught some educators by surprise.  Students sitting for their STAAR exams this week will be part of a new method of evaluating Texas schools: Their written answers on the state’s standardized tests will be graded automatically by computers.  The Texas Education Agency is rolling out an “automated scoring engine” for open-ended questions on the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness for reading, writing, science and social studies. The technology, which uses natural language processing technology like artificial intelligence chatbots such as GPT-4, will save the state agency about $15-20 million per year that it would otherwise have spent on hiring human scorers through a third-party contractor. view article

Back in 2010, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan rolled out his Race to the Top program to reform American education. The U.S. Department of Education offered a total of $5 billion to states. To be eligible to compete for a part of the huge prize money, states had to agree to authorize charter schools, to adopt the Common Core (not yet finished), and to evaluate teachers based on the test scores of their students. view article

One of three amendments to Georgetown ISD's District of Innovation plan under consideration may allow for the hiring of teachers without certification as the district works to fill vacancies. What happened: During an April 2 board workshop, GISD administrators shared three amendments to the district's DOI plan will potentially come before the board at a future meeting. As a DOI, GISD can be exempted from some state laws included in the Texas Education Code, said Wes Vanicek, the district's chief strategist for assessment and feedback. The district cannot be exempt from federal laws, he said. view article

Houston Public Media obtained correspondence showing concerns raised by state education staffers about Houston ISD’s rushed rollout of a deeply controversial performance evaluation system for educators. According to experts, the messages call further into question the systems that will determine which teachers and principals are removed from their schools. view article

While the Texas Education Agency continues to keep the latest accountability reports for the state’s public school systems under wraps due to a lawsuit, The Dallas Express is putting a spotlight on one of Dallas ISD’s underperforming campuses. According to the most recent available accountability report, which is for the 2021-2022 school year, South Oak Cliff High School earned a 63 out of 100 for student achievement outcomes. view article

The school said under Surratt’s leadership, the school district has passed two bond elections, three tax ratification elections and received A ratings.  “First, I want to thank the Board of Trustees for wanting to nominate me for the honor of Region VII Superintendent of the Year,” said Surratt. “Superintendents get nominated when things go very well in a school system. Because of our wonderful students and families, plus our fantastic staff, things have gone extremely well for Lindale ISD for many, many years. I am so blessed to be a part of this great school district and excited about the future of Lindale ISD.” view article

Texas colleges risk millions in state funding if they have diversity, equity and inclusion efforts on campuses as a new law banning such initiatives will be strictly enforced, a state senator warned. Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, announced Tuesday that he sent a letter to Texas university leaders reinforcing the expectations and oversight process of the ban he authored aimed at keeping DEI programs out of state schools. ADVERTISEMENT The new law, also known as Senate Bill 17, bans DEI from public higher education institutions and went into effect Jan. 1. Schools that break the law could lose state funding. Texas is on track to spend more than $30 billion on higher education in the current two-year cycle, which runs through 2025. That includes millions for individual campuses. view article

Before 8 a.m. on a Tuesday in early September, a staffer with the Texas Education Agency was on a "cross country parental leave road trip" when an urgent text came in from Kristen Hole, the Chief Academic Officer for Houston ISD. The teachers' union had sued the district, temporarily blocking a controversial performance evaluation system for educators — a key pillar of the sweeping reforms from state-appointed superintendent Mike Miles. view article

The Socorro Independent School District violated the Texas Education Code by graduating students who did not meet requirements, failing to disclose Trustee Paul Guerra’s connections to a vendor used by the district, and paying $283,000 in unauthorized stipends, according to a report released Friday by the Texas Education Agency. view article

Late this week, the state-appointed superintendent of Houston ISD did something many thought impossible: he listened. It took several protests, community outcry and some three hours of overwhelmingly negative public comment during Thursday's school board meeting, but Mike Miles seems to have heard the message. The uproar began with the leaked release of a list of 117 principals the district said weren't performing well enough yet to secure their spot for next year. Several of the principals at top-rated schools were on the list. Parents and students from those campuses showed up in force. Early Friday morning, with the meeting still plodding along, Miles announced that he and the board of managers changed course and said they wouldn't make any adverse employment decisions this year based off of these proficiency screenings, which broadly measure student achievement with a variety of test data, quality of instruction gathered during spot observations and professionalism judged by a rubric that includes how well principals reinforce "district culture and philosophy." But, he made clear, he would still use the more comprehensive principal evaluation system approved last fall to make those decisions at the end of the school year. view article