Brownsville ISD considering closing 3 campuses amid $20 million deficit The plan would call for Cromack Elementary School students to move to Josephine Castañeda Elementary School, students at Garza Elementary School students would move to Southmost Elementary School and Rosa E. Del Castillo Elementary School students would go to Morningside Elementary School. The district says the three schools that could close have low enrollment, with a combined total of 934 students. view article

Houston ISD community members seeking to stay informed and share their input on district decisions can do so by attending the district's monthly school board meetings. HISD’s appointed Board of Managers typically hold meetings on the second Thursday of every month, although some meetings may be held at a different time due to district holidays or breaks. During meetings, the board often votes to make notable changes to district policies, such as adopting the District of Innovation designation or approving a new principal evaluation system. view article

Education community in Socorro ISD (SISD) was shocked last week to learn that following a closed-door session, the school district’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously on Tuesday to request that the Texas Education Agency (TEA) appoint one or more conservators to oversee the district’s operations. Why did the SISD Board of Trustees make this drastic decision? While the board has not been fully transparent with the community regarding the reasons for this move, TEA has since confirmed that SISD accepted a proposed agreement from the agency to settle eight ongoing special investigations of the district through the appointment of one or more conservators by Commissioner Mike Morath and the public release of a final report into the investigations. view article

Fort Worth Independent School District (FWISD) announced on March 7 that it would be consolidating Wedgwood 6th Grade School with Wedgwood Middle School for the 2024-2025 school year. The decision to close Wedgwood 6th Grade came after layoffs that the district announced in late February. view article

According to district documents, these agreements will allow the school district to submit invoices to the city for reimbursement of costs related to the operation of facilities in two of the city’s reinvestment zones. The city’s reimbursement payments will allow district funds to be repurposed to pay the city of Grapevine for SRO expenses. While the two original tax increment reinvestment zones were created in 1996 and 1998 respectively, both were amended Feb. 20 to include costs associated with the operations of facilities in these zones. view article

Fort Worth ISD is saving more than $9.4 million through its recently announced layoffs, according to documents obtained through an open records request. The records detail how much money the district is saving after district officials did not provide an estimate. The documents also showed fewer employees laid off than originally announced. view article

The Sherman ISD Board of Trustees unanimously voted to suspend Superintendent Dr. Tyson Bennett at a special meeting Friday. Effective immediately, Dr. Bennett will step away from the role with pay. The board also voted to have Deputy Superintendent, Dr. Thomas O’Neal, serve as the district’s acting superintendent in the meantime. This was the third special meeting held to discuss the ongoing investigation into decisions made for the high school theater program. view article

Sherman ISD superintendent Dr. Tyson Bennett was suspended with pay effective immediately Friday. The decision came amid an investigation into a Sherman High School production of “Oklahoma!” that started after a transgender student was initially removed from a role in the show. The school board also voted to appoint Deputy Superintendent Dr. Thomas O’Neal as acting superintendent. The votes Friday came after trustees spent more than three hours in a closed meeting with legal counsel. view article

The Socorro Independent School District accepted extreme state oversight “to improve the public’s trust in us, in spite of the challenges that we’re facing,” the school board president said Thursday. He just can’t say what those challenges are. “Only (the Texas Education Agency) can release that information when their final report is in,” board President Michael Najera said at a news conference at district headquarters, two days after the board voted unanimously to accept a conservator appointed by TEA who would wield strong oversight power in Socorro ISD. view article

A Keller ISD teacher says students aren’t the reason she recently resigned, effective at the end of the school year. Instead, she pointed at district leaders and an agenda she claims is being pushed. view article

Monday night’s Lewisville ISD Board meeting was a bit more colorful and eventful than usual as dozens of protesters supporting Hebron High School teacher Rachmad Tjachyadi rallied outside of the district's Administration Center and sat in on the meeting to advocate for the teacher’s reinstatement. view article

EL PASO, Texas [KFOX14] — The Texas Education Agency placed a conservatorship on the Socorro Independent School District after multiple complaints were filed on governance concerns and system failures within the district, according to the TEA. Steve Lecholop, the deputy commissioner for governance for the TEA said the complaints have been received over the past few years, and are currently conducting eight different investigations which led to the conservatorship. “Ultimately the agreement is that the agency will appoint a conservator or multiple conservators to partner with a school district to really help guide the district and support the district to improve and fix those items, and those systems that the investigation substantiated were in violation of the law,” said Lecholop. view article

Newly-obtained documents shed light on what happened leading up to a faith-based film crew’s visit to a Keller ISD school. view article

The Socorro Independent School District Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to ask the Texas Education Agency to take over governance of El Paso’s second-largest school district. The action came after a closed-door session of the school board Tuesday. During the vote, trustees said little beyond making a motion, and unanimously approving an order to request the state agency to appoint one or more conservators to oversee operations of the district. view article

TATUM, Texas (KETK) – Tatum ISD said that Karen Mcllwain, who served on the district’s Board of Trustees since 2002, passed away recently.  Superintendent J.P Richardson said that Mcllwain served passionately in the district and community of Tatum. view article

For more than two hours, community members came before the Keller ISD school board Thursday night addressing not just one, but several issues that have divided the district over the last several weeks. Many of those signed up to speak were students from Timber Creek High School where the district recently canceled an upcoming play, 'The Laramie Project' which focuses on the reaction to the 1998 murder of a gay student in Wyoming. view article

The Keller ISD teacher said she was quitting in a dramatic moment that elicited gasps at Thursday night's board meeting said a trustee inviting an evangelical foreign film crew to her campus was the final straw leading her to quit. Elizabeth Mitias told WFAA Friday she intends to keep teaching engineering at Central High School through the end of the school year and then leave the district after five years of teaching. view article

When you’re in trouble it’s best to ask for help. McAllen public school board members should do just that, and not be so hasty to bail out of promising cooperative agreements with the city of McAllen and other entities. McAllen Independent School District trustees voted 4-2 in January to reconsider their $4 million commitment to projects that would develop programs at the city-owned Quinta Mazatlan World Birding Center and the International Museum of Art and Science. view article

For more than two hours, community members came before the Keller ISD school board Thursday night addressing not just one, but several issues that have divided the district over the last several weeks. Many of those signed up to speak were students from Timber Creek High School where the district recently canceled an upcoming play, 'The Laramie Project' which focuses on the reaction to the 1998 murder of a gay student in Wyoming. view article

College Station ISD has started promoting a new track and field competition for elementary students. CSISD athletic director Kevin Starnes shared during the February 20th school board regular meeting about the “Little Olympics”. All CSISD elementary students have the opportunity to participate on their campuses. view article

Superintendent David Vinson discussed an ambitious new effort at Wylie ISD’s regular board of trustees meeting Monday, Feb. 26.  Vinson wants WISD to be the lead district in a coalition to “rework” Chapter 37, the Texas Education Code on student discipline management.  The school board also approved a District of Innovation request for an amendment to reject the Texas Education Agency’s guidance for suspension to not exceed three school days.  Ten new positions were requested and approved including four general education elementary teachers, five self-contained education teachers and one dual language teacher. The measure is a starting point for 2024-2025 teacher allotments.   view article

The Socorro Independent School District is considering layoffs, pay cuts and a tax ratification election that could increase property taxes amid a $33 million deficit. “We could be considering a reduction in force or reducing the number of employees through attrition. … A lot of what they’re discussing would be to save personnel costs by increasing class sizes,” SISD Superintendent Nate Carman said during a January board meeting. “Options could include zero raises for all employees pending additional state funding to balance out the budget.” view article

The Katy ISD board of trustees on Monday rejected a divisive motion that would have enabled the district to hire chaplains as counselors or to allow them to volunteer in a religious capacity. The board voted 5-2 against a measure provided by Texas' Senate Bill 763, which allows school districts to hire chaplains to provide student support services or to volunteer in schools for similar purposes. The bill does not mandate that chaplains have any certification, training or licensing, and it does not establish limitations on what chaplains may teach children. view article

The Katy ISD School Board is hearing public comment about the idea of allowing chaplains as school counselors. It’s part of Senate Bill 763 that passed last year. Senator Mayes Middleton authored the bill which would allow school districts to hire or accept chaplain volunteers to “provide support, services, and programs for students as assigned by the board of trustees of the district.” Under the law, Chaplains aren’t required to be certified by the State Board of Educator Certification. It’s part of Senate Bill 763 that passed last year. Senator Mayes Middleton authored the bill which would allow school districts to hire or accept chaplain volunteers to “provide support, services, and programs for students as assigned by the board of trustees of the district.” Under the law, Chaplains aren’t required to be certified by the State Board of Educator Certification. view article

Del Valle ISD’s school board meeting kicked off with a major announcement on Tuesday: Board President Rebecca Birch said she was resigning, effective immediately. She had served on the board for nearly 12 years and spent more than half of that tenure as president. Birch’s decision came the same night the Del Valle ISD board swore in former Trustee Damián Pantoja. The board voted 5 to 3 last week to reappoint Pantoja to represent Single Member District 2, which includes part of the Montopolis neighborhood. Pantoja had to vacate the seat last summer after he claimed a homestead exemption within Austin ISD’s boundaries that violated residency requirements to serve on the DVISD board. Birch said the reappointment of Pantoja was a tipping point for her. view article

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - A special meeting of the Amarillo ISD Board of Trustees was held today to discuss the district’s declining enrollment. This year, the district has under 29,000 students. In 2016, that number was 34,000. “It is happening in a lot of places across the state as populations shift and as the birth rate declines. And that kind of thing is if you look at the Potter County demographic, you’ll see that only my age of people are growing and we don’t have little children anymore. The younger populations are shrinking in Potter County and that’s why we see less school aged children,” said Doyle Corder, president, Amarillo ISD school board. In an unanimous vote, the school board passed a motion giving Amarillo ISD’s Superintendent Doug Loomis some direction. view article

A Keller school district trustee has resigned after she accompanied a film crew to a high school campus without permission from district officials. Sandi Walker apologized in a Facebook post Sunday and wrote that she would step down. The post appears to have been since deleted. “I recently participated in a foreign documentary focused on public schools in Texas,” Walker wrote on Facebook. “Some filming took place while students were present. I take safety and privacy of our students seriously. I apologize for allowing students to be captured on film.” Walker was elected in 2022.  view article

Parents and students feel their safety and security have been violated after an unauthorized evangelical film crew from the Netherlands entered and filmed at Central High School on Feb 9. without authorization from the school district. "We were all so confused," said Sophomore Henry Hawes. "They came up and sat behind our table and started recording us."

A special meeting of the Amarillo ISD Board of Trustees was held today to discuss the district’s declining enrollment. This year, the district has under 29,000 students. In 2016, that number was 34,000. “It is happening in a lot of places across the state as populations shift and as the birth rate declines. And that kind of thing is if you look at the Potter County demographic, you’ll see that only my age of people are growing and we don’t have little children anymore. The younger populations are shrinking in Potter County and that’s why we see less school aged children,” said Doyle Corder, president, Amarillo ISD school board. view article

A Keller ISD trustee has resigned after bringing an evangelist film crew from the Netherlands to shoot a documentary inside Central High School without the school district's permission. Parents and students say the incident violated student privacy and school security and are calling for another trustee to resign. KISD Place 3 Trustee Sandi Walker posted to Facebook on Sunday night that she planned to step down. view article

Bryan ISD leaders met Monday to consider and discuss the district’s annual report, tackling crucial aspects such as realigning the annual budget and shaping the academic calendar for the upcoming school year and more. In a comprehensive review, school officials affirm that testing scores within Bryan ISD are in line with comparable districts across the state. The annual report delves into various student information rates, encompassing economically disadvantaged, emergent bilingual, at-risk, and mobile students. Additionally, Starr Testing scores in Reading, Math, Science, and Social Studies were meticulously compared with state averages and benchmarks from Bastrop, Duncanville, New Caney, Tyler, and Waco Independent School Districts. view article

At tonight’s Corsicana Independent School District board meeting of trustees, Leah Blackard submitted her resignation from her Place 6 position on the board via letter. Blackard was not in attendance at the meeting. Corsicana ISD released this statement in regards to Blackard’s resignation: view article

A Keller ISD school board member announced on Facebook Sunday she will resign from her position. In a post from her now-deleted page, Sandi Walker wrote she decided to resign as a trustee after prayer and conversations with friends and family. Walker added she was proud of what the board had accomplished in her nearly two years as a member. view article

A Keller ISD trustee has resigned after bringing an evangelist film crew from the Netherlands to shoot a documentary inside Central High School without the school district's permission. Parents and students say the incident violated student privacy and school security and are calling for another trustee to resign. KISD Place 3 Trustee Sandi Walker posted to Facebook on Sunday night that she planned to step down. "After spending time in prayer, conversations with family and close friends, I have made the decision to resign from my position as school board trustee," Walker wrote. The statement came nine days after Keller ISD officials said Walker brought a European film crew inside Central High School on Feb. 9 to film a documentary without the district's permission. "My son came home from school and mentioned that a film crew had filmed him and his friends at his lunch table," CHS parent Laney Hawes said. view article

A Keller ISD trustee has resigned after bringing an evangelist film crew from the Netherlands to shoot a documentary inside Central High School without the school district's permission. Parents and students say the incident violated student privacy and school security and are calling for another trustee to resign. KISD Place 3 Trustee Sandi Walker posted to Facebook on Sunday night that she planned to step down. "After spending time in prayer, conversations with family and close friends, I have made the decision to resign from my position as school board trustee," Walker wrote. The statement came nine days after Keller ISD officials said Walker brought a European film crew inside Central High School on Feb. 9 to film a documentary without the district's permission. "My son came home from school and mentioned that a film crew had filmed him and his friends at his lunch table," CHS parent Laney Hawes said. view article