Clint Independent School District trustees decided that board trustee Fred Martinez’s wife must give a written apology to the student who she took a Mexican flag away from. According to parents, Rebecca Martinez was at a high school football game and began yelling derogatory comments to the student waving the flag. “If she doesn’t apologize, she will be banned from coming to any school activities until May of 2020,” said Juan Cruz, the general council at Clint Independent School District. view article

Throughout October, a Clear Creek ISD committee has been examining the potential benefits of students starting school later in the day, and residents will soon be able to share their thoughts and concerns. The CCISD School Start Time Committee has come up with two potential models for school start times. The first would keep start times where they are, with elementary students starting at 7:55 a.m., intermediate students starting at 8:40 a.m. and high school students starting at 7:10 a.m. The second would move start times back so elementary students would start at 8:15 a.m., intermediate students would start at 9 a.m. and high school students would start at 7:30 a.m. view article

Four residents of the Southwest part of North East Independent School District have applied for a seat on its board to represent District 3 and replace former trustee Joseph Treviño. The applicants are Omar Leos, a Harlandale Independent School District administrator, Amy McLin, a Castle Hills city council member, Christopher Mammen, an independent consultant and Dolores Serna, a former educator. The school board has not announced a timeline for appointing the new trustee, who will serve until its next general election, in May 2020. view article

Candidates competing to represent Single Member District 2 sat down together Oct. 17 to answer questions about issues facing Richardson ISD. Incumbent Eron Linn has served as trustee since 2015. He is facing challenger Vanessa Pacheco in RISD’s first-ever single-member district election—the result of a recently settled lawsuit that restructured the district’s electoral process. The forum was hosted by League of Women Voters-Richardson and moderated by Richardson City Council Member Steve Mitchell. Questions for the candidates centered on teacher salaries and retention, campus safety, the importance of fine arts, parent engagement, equity and inclusion, special education services and RISD’s neighborhood schools model. view article

Leander Independent School District Superintendent Dr. Bruce Gearing turned the tables when he got up from his seat and walked around to sit opposite LISD school board members at the Oct. 3 school board meeting, during a presentation regarding ideal school sizes.  Gearing then shared his plans for the school district. “I came to sit here because I don’t like sitting there,” Gearing said, while motioning to his usual seat at the meetings. “I really like to be able to see you, so I apologize if that’s not normal.” view article

Katy ISD Board of Trustees Vice President Bill Lacy will now be bringing his passion for public schools beyond the district. Lacy has recently been elected to the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB), a non profit association dedicated to serving and supporting Texas public schools. Lacy was nominated for the position by Katy ISD and was then elected by the TASB board. view article

Less than a week ahead of the start of early voting for Nov. 5 elections, five Cy-Fair ISD board candidates attended a public forum to answer questions from community members at the Berry Center on Oct. 15. Incumbent board members Tom Jackson, Julie Hinaman and Debbie Blackshear are running for each of the election’s three uncontested positions, but three candidates are vying for the Position 3 seat—Ryan Irving, Natalie Blasingame and Gilbert Sarabia, who was unable to attend the event due to a family emergency. view article

The Long-Range Facilities Planning Committee (LRFPC) will begin meeting in November to plan for the next 5-10 years of student growth in Dripping Springs ISD. The LRFPC serves a critical need for the future of the district, as important decisions are made over the next year to ensure that Dripping Springs ISD continues to serve all students with an outstanding education. view article

The Highland Park ISD Board of Trustees approved an elementary school boundary rezoning plan during the Oct. 15 meeting after months of discussions. The new attendance boundaries will take effect in the 2020-2021 school year when Michael M. Boone Elementary School opens as Highland Park ISD’s fifth elementary school. Students currently enrolled in the third grade will have the option of attending their current school or the new school to which they’re zoned. view article

Spring ISD Board Trustee Winford Adams, Jr. joined 35 other school board members from across Texas Sept. 19-21 at the kickoff session of the Leadership TASB class of 2020. Selected by the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB), the group is participating in a yearlong education leadership study program. These trustees represent school districts of all sizes, with student populations of 161 to 189,681, and reflect a similar range of property wealth. Participants who complete all required elements of the study will graduate next year by earning Master Trustee status. This is the highest designation recognized by TASB. view article

Enrollment at Plano ISD has dropped by approximately 450 students since last year. This comparison was made with enrollment numbers from Oct. 5 of last year and Oct. 3 this year, according to a report by Chief Financial Officer Randy McDowell at a district work session Oct. 15. While enrollment grew by more than 100 students from September to October this year, the growth is not strong enough to make up for large secondary classes graduating from the district, McDowell said. view article

Longview ISD Board of Trustees approved district-wide International Baccalaureate (IB) training for all district teaching staff during their regular meeting Monday, October 9th. Superintendent Dr. James Wilcox said this training is part of the district's larger goal "to provide the best educational offerings to the students in our care."  "One of the strategic action steps for the district is to provide all district staff with training in the IB philosophy," he said.  The cost for providing this training to all staff will be approximately $760,000. Federal and state grant funds will be utilized to pay for these trainings and coaching, as well as some local funds.  Recognized worldwide, the IB program is a demanding college preparatory curriculum in the classical liberal arts. LISD is one of the only districts in the country that offers an IB program from elementary through high school. view article

A new 71-passenger school bus was approved Monday night in a 6-0 vote by the Louise ISD school board to be purchased at an estimated cost of $96,000. Currently, Louise ISD is borrowing one school bus from El Campo ISD, as the district’s school buses are worn down. Only one of the current Louise ISD buses has working air conditioning. view article

Candidates for Richardson ISD’s board of trustees gathered at Hamilton Park United Methodist Church for a forum on Oct. 14. Former RISD trustee David Tyson Jr. opened the forum. The move to a majority single-member electoral system is the result of a yearlong negotiation between the district and Tyson, who claimed at-large elections favor white candidates and discourages minority candidates from seeking election. Now, five of the district’s board members will be elected by voters living in specific districts. Three of those five single-member districts will be voted on in the Nov. 5 election. One race is uncontested. view article

The school board here swiftly terminated its attorney Monday after being the focus of a raucous board meeting last week. In a 4 to 3 vote, Baltazar Salazar, who was hired for the job over the summer, was ousted as the school board’s attorney during a special board meeting held Monday afternoon. view article

Longview ISD hosted the third of four town hall meetings about Senate Bill 1882 and what it means for the future of the district on Oct. 8th at Judson STEAM Academy. "The dialogue continues to be productive," said Superintendent Dr. James Wilcox. "We are thankful to the many parents and members of the community who have come to the meetings thus far — with some folks coming to multiple meetings — to share their thoughts, questions, concerns and compliments with our district leadership." Paul Pastorek, Executive Advisor for the Texas Education Agency, echoed Wilcox's sentiments, offering praise to those in attendance as well as the district itself.  view article

Texas Education Agency officials concluded Lira and fellow trustee Diana Dávila made false statements to investigators looking into charges that some board members violated the state’s Open Meetings Act as a prelude to the embarrassing ouster and reinstatement of interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan in late 2018. Lira told the editorial board he couldn’t comment because it was an ongoing investigation, but stressed the TEA’s findings were allegations, not proof. view article

A Tyler Independent School District trustee has been selected to become a Master Trustee. Dr. Patricia Nation, who represents Tyler ISD District 4, joined 35 other school board members from across Texas at the kickoff session of the Leadership TASB class of 2020, Sept. 19-21 in Dallas. Selected by the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB), the group is participating in a yearlong education leadership study program. Nation joined the Tyler ISD board in 2014 and is serving a second term. She is up for reelection in 2020. A retired educator, Nation has worked at all levels in the field from classroom teacher to administrator in East Texas school districts. view article

Longview ISD Place 6 trustee Ted Beard has been appointed as vice president of the Texas Association of School Boards. “I’m going to continue to advocate for quality, accessible public education that’s properly funded for all of the school districts, not just in Region VII but for the entire state of Texas,” he said. “I am blessed to bring a perspective from the greater Longview community and the entire Region VII service area.” view article

The Pearland ISD Board of Trustees approved the establishment of a capital projects fund at the Oct. 8 meeting and the transfer of $10 million from the general operating fund into the capital projects fund. The $10 million will begin to address the $18 million worth of capital improvement needs indicated in the 10-year capital renewal plan the district published in May. “We’re beginning to look through those projects with a fine-toothed comb to determine which are most critical and should be prioritized in this process,” Superintendent John Kelly said. view article

Rio Grande City school board members erupted in argument during a meeting Tuesday over payments to their current attorney. The school board was set to consider terminating Baltazar Salazar, a Houston-based attorney, from his post as the school board attorney. The motion failed as only board Trustee Daria Babineaux voted in favor of firing him. However, the vote came after much arguing between some of the board members, Salazar and Superintendent Vilma Garza. view article

The Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) has elected Mark Lukert of Wichita Falls ISD to a three-year term on the TASB Board of Directors, representing TASB Region 9. Lukert, who joined the Wichita Falls ISD Board in 2018, has been an educator for more than 40 years. He spent 21 years as an elementary school principal. Currently, he is a national trainer, speaker and leadership coach for the John Maxwell Team. He also presents keynote addresses for various organizations and conducts team-building workshops across the state and nation.  view article

The Montgomery Independent School District board of trustees met Friday morning for a special meeting that covered a number of agenda items, including a hazing incident. The meeting started at 8 a.m., and after a brief public comment period, trustees left the meeting chambers to discuss the hazing incident involving the varsity football team behind closed doors with their legal counsel.  view article

Three forums next week will give voters the opportunity to hear from candidates running in contested races for spots on the Richardson ISD board of trustees. The Nov. 5 election marks the first time in RISD’s history that trustees will be elected by voters in specific geographic areas rather than by the district as a whole. The district moved to a majority single-member district electoral system following the settlement of a lawsuit earlier this year. view article

White Oak ISD trustees will consider financial matters when they meet at 6 p.m. Monday. School board members will look at approving a purchase of more than $50,000, an investment policy, investment training vendors and a budget amendment. view article

Katherine Sells, trustee from Lewisville ISD, joined 35 other school board members from across Texas September 19-21 at the kickoff session of the Leadership TASB class of 2020. Selected by the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB), the group is participating in a yearlong education leadership study program. These trustees represent school districts of all sizes, with student populations of 161 to 189,681, and reflect a similar range of property wealth. view article

Florence’s one day of early voting was a casualty of a newly implemented Texas election law that lawmakers said they pushed to curb abuse in school bond elections. But the law was crafted broadly enough to upend a long-established practice of moving polling places during the early voting period to reach as many voters as possible near where they live, work or go to school. With a Nov. 5 constitutional election looming, the new law has left a trail of shuttered early voting polling places across the state, prompting unease among election officials about how far it'll go in limiting access to early voting in next year’s high-stakes election. view article

For the first time, a school board member is speaking out about an alleged hazing incident involving football players at Montgomery High School. The Montgomery ISD school board member said the incident has been improperly handled from the beginning. view article

After seven meetings, more than 800 comments, and a whole lot of discussion, the Highland Park ISD boundary rezoning committee agreed on a plan at its Oct. 7 meeting. The committee, which is made up of parents and residents, is now sending that plan to the Board of Trustees, who will take up the matter at its Oct. 15 meeting. view article

The Brownsville Independent School District Board of Trustees has updated the Board Standard Operating Procedures Manual under which it conducts school board business. At a special called meeting Tuesday, the board agreed to a series of changes to fine-tune the manual to reflect current realities. The changes were in addition to those approved last week by the board. Meanwhile, action on a complaint by a parent about board member Erasmo Castro’s public actions was delayed until a special called board meeting scheduled for Oct. 21, which Castro’s attorney Star Jones requested. view article

The Chron endorses incumbent CM Dave Martin in District E. It’s easy to find out the biggest problem in Houston City Council District E. Ask any of its residents and most likely they will tell you a flooding story. Water invaded so many homes in the Kingwood and Elm Grove neighborhoods after Harvey and Imelda that just the sight of dark clouds makes people nervous. That’s why District E residents have come to depend on incumbent Councilman Dave Martin. Since first being elected in 2012, and has served one two-year and one four-year term. Martin has been working hard to make their homes less vulnerable to flooding. view article

Elysian Fields ISD trustees on Monday had to move the school board meeting’s location after about 50 parents and community members showed up to voice their concerns about bullying in the district. The concerns on Monday were prompted after the death of an Elysian Fields Middle School sixth grader last month. The death is being investigated as a suicide by Panola County Sheriff’s Office, and several neighboring school districts wore orange in support of Elysian Fields ISD and the student following her death. view article

Clifton Fendley, trustee from Paris ISD, joined 35 other school board members from across Texas September 19-21 at the kickoff session of the Leadership TASB class of 2020. Selected by the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB), the group is participating in a yearlong education leadership study program. These trustees represent school districts of all sizes, with student populations of 161 to 189,681, and reflect a similar range of property wealth. Participants who complete all required elements of the study will graduate next year by earning Master Trustee status. This is the highest designation recognized by TASB.  view article

Ted Beard believes public education is the key to a healthy and successful society. The Place 6 trustee on the Longview ISD school board says his service to the district is focused on providing a quality, equitable, properly-funded education for all students. view article

A member of the Marlin Independent School District Board of Managers who defrauded the Veterans Affairs Department and was ordered to pay the federal government nearly half a million dollars in restitution resigned late Friday night after the Tribune-Herald inquired why the Texas Education Agency would appoint him to oversee the school district. view article