In a move that seemed to stun the board, district staff and the public in attendance, Beaumont Independent School District board president A.B. Bernard resigned Thursday, effective Friday.  This is the second time Bernard has resigned this summer, but he said this decision will stick.  "I resigned once before and my phone rung off the hook," he told the board Thursday evening. "I am not going to change my mind this time." view article

I mean, I think we know what it’s going to be, but there are still some questions. Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath came to and left the Greater Houston area Thursday without addressing one of the biggest issues on his agenda: the fate of Houston ISD’s school board. In the coming weeks, Morath likely will be forced to decide whether to replace all trustees governing Texas’ largest school district or close one of HISD’s most historic campuses, the consequence of historic Wheatley High School failing to meet state academic standards for a seventh consecutive time. view article

Questions surround school board President Michael Vargas’ emailed warning to board members and district employees. Last week, a district official emailed the message to the news media and district employees, apparently expressing concern an unnamed board member might have “leaked” information from a board’s closed-door meeting to a local newspaper. view article

One last look at July finance reports. I’m lumping together reports for HISD and HCC, in part because there’s some crossover, and in part because there’s not all that much to these. As always, refer to the Erik Manning candidate spreadsheet, and note that for a variety of reasons people may not have had a report to file for this period. view article

Ben Lane (right) takes the oath of office from Superintendent Secretary Karen Thompson at the Eustace ISD meeting Aug. 12. He takes the place of resigning officer David Morton. view article

A group aimed at providing community input and guidance for future Fort Bend ISD attendance zone boundary modifications is now accepting applications. Online applications for the district’s newly formed School Boundary Oversight Committee (SBOC) will be accepted through Aug. 25, according to a news release from the district. view article

On Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, the Board of Trustees of the Coahoma ISD will hold a regular meeting at 6 p.m., in the faculty dining room at Coahoma Elementary School, located at 400 Ramsey St.  view article

We're taking a closer look at the allegations against several members of the Houston Independent School District board of trustees outlined in a report from the Texas Education Association.  view article

Keller ISD’s board of trustees unanimously approved putting a roughly $315 million bond on a November ballot. The bond was approved at the trustees’ Aug. 12 meeting and includes 11 projects from the district’s long-range facilities plan. The plan includes 66 projects expected to cost more than $1.17 billion in total. They will be worked on over the next decade. view article

Richardson ISD officials gave outgoing board trustee Katie Patterson a warm send-off at her last school board meeting Aug. 12. In early August Patterson notified the board of her plan to resign as her family is moving out of the district. But she had already announced in March her decision to not seek re-election in November. She was elected to the board of trustees Place 4 seat in 2016.  view article

A lone graduate walked the corridors to his own pomp and circumstance Monday night as the Pine Tree ISD school board hosted his private graduation ceremony. Willian Sanchez was unable to graduate with his classmates in the spring but worked through summer school to earn his diploma. view article

HOUSTON - The Texas Education Agency conducted an investigation into the Houston Independent School District due to allegations of a "systemic breakdown" within the district's board of trustees.  The report shed light on some potential violations of the law within the district's Board of Education. READ: TEA's full report view article

South San Antonio Independent School District trustees voted Wednesday night to escalate their feud with the Texas Education Agency over the presence of a state-appointed monitor they have accused of racial bias and said repeatedly “has got to go.”  The meeting to discuss “withdrawing consent” for her appointment came two weeks after the board blocked monitor Laurie Elliott from publicly presenting her reports, which have been highly critical of the four trustees who control the seven-member panel. view article

Texas Education Agency officials have recommended that a state-appointed governing team replace Houston ISD’s locally elected school board after a six-month investigation found several instances of alleged misconduct by some trustees, including violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act, inappropriate influencing of vendor contracts and making false statements to investigators. view article

As the 2019-20 budget adoption date nears, the Conroe Independent School District trustees continued their work this week toward completing the process. Chief Financial Officer Darrin Rice presented a budget outline the district’s first budget public hearing on Tuesday, explaining that the proposal consists of about $549.5 million in spending and about $555.6 million in revenue. “This budget process doesn’t take just months, it takes over a year to put together,” Rice began as he thanked district officials for their work. view article

The Harlandale Independent School District board met with the Texas Education Agency commissioner in Austin on Wednesday. The TEA has been looking into allegations about the way the school board has handled its contracts, along with suspected nepotism and a violation of the Open Meetings Act. Earlier this year, the TEA announced they wanted the entire school board replaced. view article

Kerens ISD held a reception at the Kerens Ex-Student Association (KESA) building, followed by a tour of the new athletics fieldhouse adjacent to A.G. Godley Stadium, which includes restrooms and concessions space, part of the school district’s bond-financed construction project approved by KISD voters in May 2017. view article

There's good news for the more than 1,300 employees who work for the Port Arthur Independent School District. They're getting a pay hike that will make PAISD a salary leader in Southeast Texas. view article

As the Nov. 5 uniform election draws near, deadlines for candidates and Lake Houston-area voters are coming up. Early voting will take place from Oct. 21-Nov. 1. The deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 5 election is Oct. 7. The filing period for candidates opened July 22, and the deadline to file is Aug. 19. Here is who has filed for the positions so far and where to file: view article

On Wednesday, Harlandale Independent School District leaders finally got their chance to go before the state education commissioner to defend the district against an impending state takeover. view article

Candidates for the Clear Creek ISD board of trustees are concerned about school safety, state financing and local tax dollars, according to their responses given at a candidate forum April 4. At-large Position B incumbent Ann Hammond is running for re-election against newcomer Scott Bowen. Position 1 incumbent Laura DuPont is running unopposed for her own chair. view article

Orangefield school trustees took a look Monday night at a first draft of the district’s 2019-2020 budget and liked what they saw. Thanks to the Texas Legislature, it would include $2 million more in spending than a year ago and lower the tax rate 10 cents per $100 value. view article

A third candidate has filed to run in the Nov. 5 Copperas Cove Independent School District Board of Trustees election. Harry L. Byrd has applied as a candidate for the Place 5 position on the board currently held by Bob Weiss. Byrd held the Place 2 position on the board from 2015 to 2018, but was defeated for reelection last November by Shameria Ann Davis. Davis received 39.64% of the vote in a four candidate race. Byrd finished second with 21.64% of the vote. view article

The last day to file to run for school board is in Cumby ISD is August 19th by 5:00 PM. Packets can be picked up from 8-5 at the admin office, see Cindy Mannon. view article

The Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD Board of Trustees recently approved its compensation plan for the 2019-20 school year, which includes salary increases for teachers, administrators and staff. Classroom teachers, full-time librarians, counselors and school nurses will receive a 5-percent increase of base pay, and classroom teachers with more than five years of experience will receive an additional 1.25-percent increase for a total of a 6.25-percent increase of base pay. With the new raises, starting teacher pay will be $55,735, a $2,100 increase from last year, according to district officials.  view article

The Canyon ISD Board of Trustees is one of eight boards in the State of Texas to be recognized as a Regional Honor Board by the Texas Association of School Administrators. They join Beeville ISD, Premont ISD, Bridge City ISD, Denton ISD, Copperas Cove ISD, Giddings ISD, and Boerne ISD in that honor. view article

The Copperas Cove Independent School District Board of Trustees earned the Regional School Board of the Year award during the Region 12 Education Service Center luncheon Thursday. State Representatives Charles "Doc" Anderson and J.D. Sheffield as well as State Board of Education Member Sue Melton-Malone were in attendance to share accolades. view article

Teachers in Marshall will see a bigger paycheck this upcoming school year. view article

The Victoria school board unanimously approved salary increases for teachers and staff for the 2019-2020 school year during a meeting Thursday night. The more than $6.5 million in salary increases across the district will be divided up with $4.67 million going to teachers; $490,724 for support staff; $572,689 for paraprofessionals; $683,223 for administration instructional staff; and $89,612 for administration business staff. view article

This past spring, the voters of District 7 of Dallas ISD elected a new trustee in a race between two qualified candidates, Ben Mackey and Brent McDougal. At one forum, the question was posed to the candidates as to why voters were forced to choose between two white candidates in a majority minority district. Neither candidate could be said to truly "represent" his district's demographics. view article

Austin ISD will be pushing the timeline for its school changes process back one month,according to an Aug. 1 announcement by the district. A timeline for the district’s ongoing school changes process—in which district administration is evaluating closing, consolidating and rezoning schools to better use district resources and save money overtime— was set by the district back in February. Based on the original timeline, initial scenarios regarding possible closures and other related changes were scheduled to be released in mid August. view article

EL PASO, Texas - Ysleta Independent School District's superintendent is facing suspension for an altercation with the superintendent of the Socorro Independent School District. That altercation happened in San Antonio and the police report shows YISD Superintendent Xavier De La Torre appeared to be intoxicated.  But YISD board member Kathryn Lucero, who voted to suspend De La Torre for three days, claims it was SISD board members who were drinking on taxpayer dollars. view article

A week before a one-hour review in which the Harlandale Independent School District will plead its case against a state takeover, some of the 16 people who spoke at a public hearing Thursday night wished the trustees well while others pleaded with them to stop spending money on lawyers to fight. view article

The voters in Denison could have a little more time to get their comments to the Denison Independent School District in regard to the proposed $20 million bond to expand two elementary schools. Following two months 0f discussions, the Denison ISD school board decided not to take action on calling for a bond election to raise money for the expansion of Mayes and Hyde Park Elementary schools. After president of the board David Hawley called for a motion, board member Ken Altnether made that motion Tuesday evening. Then after a few moments of silence without a second motion, Hawley declared the motion had failed. view article

Five school boards across Texas are selected as Honor School Boards for the 2019 Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA) School Board Awards, and the Frenship ISD Board of trustees has been chosen as one of them. A committee of Texas school superintendents, chaired by Grapevine-Colleyville ISD Superintendent Robin Ryan, made the selections based on each school board’s support for educational performance, support for educational improvement projects, commitment to a code of ethics; and maintenance of harmonious and supportive relationships among board members, according to a release from Frenship ISD. view article