An environmental group is questioning the lead levels found in Austin schools and urging Austin Independent School District to “get the lead out.” AISD finished testing water in all of its 130 campuses this year, after beginning the process last year. The Lower Colorado River Authority testing in 2017 revealed one school had lead levels above 15 parts per billion, the amount the Environmental Protection Agency says is safe. AISD replaced a water fountain at that school and re-tested the water four times, which showed the lead levels had come down, according to AISD’s executive director of facilities. view article

Parents and students are noticing something is missing near Deerpark Middle School four weeks into the school year. “Pretty much every morning that I get here there’s not a crossing guard,” said Mykah Hernandez, an eighth grader who rides a scooter to and from school everyday. KXAN went out to observe the intersection at Anderson Mill Road and Broadmeade Avenue Monday afternoon, where students walking and biking to school must cross four busy lanes of traffic. view article

Rumors of students consuming alcohol before this past Friday’s Longview ISD varsity football game are being investigated by district officials. view article

A presentation by Friday Night Lights and Northern Exposure actress Janine Turner upset some Southlake parents because their children were given material about sex trafficking and abortion. The Tarrant County actress spoke at Eubanks Intermediate School for Constitution Day last week to discuss the U.S. Constitution and patriotism. Turner is the  founder of Constituting America, which she describes as a nonpartisan group aimed at promoting civic engagement and understanding of constitutional rights. But the organization promotes conservative ideas on its website and made a documentary about right wing voices being silenced or met with violence. view article

VERNON, TX (KAUZ) -  Vernon Independent School District's Superintendent is speaking out following rumors of threats and a hit list made by a student.  On the district's Facebook page, Superintendent Jeff Byrd released this statement Saturday saying student safety is Vernon ISD's top priority.  He says the district understands the community is very concerned about the reported threats.  Superintendent Byrd says they're investigating this matter and have taken appropriate action to ensure that students and employees are safe. view article

Despite split opinions on whether new seat belt requirements make school buses safer, some Brazos Valley administrators agree the decision should have come with additional state dollars, especially after a legislative session that ended with what they say is a burden of several unfunded mandates. Coming out of the 85th legislative session, school districts in need of buses must ensure their new buses are equipped with three-point seat belts, at least if they are buying models that are from 2018 or newer. view article

Longview police are investigating a loaded gun found in the middle school bathroom. Authorities say a school staffer discovered the .380-caliber weapon at the Longview Independent School District's Foster Middle School. No other students or staff were in the bathroom when the gun was found Tuesday. Assistant Superintendent Dennis Williams says the district about 125 miles (201.16 kilometers) east of Dallas hasn't received any direct threats but district officials are working with police to identify those involved. view article

The Texas Education Agency is warning of a phishing email targeting teachers and school districts across the state. The false email claims to come from TEA and the Association of Texas Professional Educators, inviting educators to an all-expenses-paid seminar in Austin and asking to follow several links to register. view article

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) and the Association of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE) on Thursday issued a warning about a phishing email scam directed at teachers and school systems across the state. The email, which bears the ATPE logo and an outdated TEA logo, comes from a non-TEA email address and appears to target teachers with the following message: view article

Knowing what to do no matter the situation is always important to law enforcement and administrators when it comes to student safety. In Canyon ISD, they make sure they do just that by maintaining a great relationship between the liaison officers and the community. "We want to develop relationships with parents just as well," said Sergeant Jerome Godfrey. "Not just the parents, I tell my guys we want to develop relationships with the community around that school." view article

Caleb Sharpe rode the bus to his high school in a tiny Washington state town, carrying a black duffel bag. The 15-year-old walked to a second-floor hallway, pulled an assault weapon from the bag and tried to load it, authorities said. It jammed, and a classmate walked up. "I always knew you were going to shoot up the school," the student said, according to court documents released Thursday. "You know this is going to get you in trouble." view article

A student has been suspended after bringing a loaded gun to a Longview ISD campus. Foster Middle School Principal John York said Wednesday in an automated call to parents obtained by KLTV that the student is "currently suspended pending expulsion under Chapter 37.007 of the Texas Education Code." Tuesday, the district released a statement via its website that a loaded gun was found at the school. view article

Seton Healthcare Family says it will foot the $1.8 million cost to make sure Austin Independent School District campuses have more registered nurses this year. When students returned to school last month, many parents contacted KXAN worried that the district were removing registered nurses from all their elementary school campuses. view article

An increase of attempted abductions in Wichita Falls has many of us asking how we can keep our kids safe. The most recent abduction case happened Monday when three people were arrested after an abduction at a motel in Wichita Falls. Another incident happened during the Labor Day weekend near Rider High School and Jefferson Elementary. view article

A lawsuit filed Monday against the Austin Independent School District claims a 5-year-old girl suffers from acute allergies after being exposed to mold at her east Austin school. The lawsuit, filed by the girl’s parents, Jennifer Matos and Darrell Holmes, states their daughter was enrolled in pre-K at Oak Springs Elementary School in September 2016. view article

There’s always a need for more research into leukemia. That’s why the student council at Harlingen High School is once again raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Tuesday, they wore their orange shirts with the popular hashtage #TeamWalkerPete and met with representatives of the organization to brainstorm ideas for raising money and awareness. view article

Armed with a pistol and rifle, classmates say the shooter's face "was passive" in the hallway of a high school in a tiny Washington state town. He tried to fire a weapon, but it jammed, and another boy confronted him. "He went to his next weapon," Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich said. "A student walked up to him, engaged him, and that student was shot. That student did not survive." view article

Bloomburg ISD is looking forward to an exciting new year filled with improvements to benefit their students. Beginning this year, every student in the Bloomburg district will be able to eat breakfast and lunch for free. As one of only two districts in Cass County to qualify for this grant, Bloomburg will be able to offer free food to students pre- kindergarten through twelfth grade.   view article

Police and school officials say they have identified who was responsible for bringing a loaded handgun onto an East Texas school campus and suspended that student. The investigation is now centering on how the gun was brought on campus. The initial find of a loaded handgun in the Foster Middle School bathroom was alarming to the district.   view article

One of the burning behavioral issues affecting some Houston-area high schools in 2016 involved drugs. Nearly 50 percent of the top 30 high schools with the highest percentage of drug-related incidents belonged to the Fort Bend and Houston Independent School District (HISD), according to an analysis conducted by Chron.com using data obtained from the Texas Education Agency (TEA). view article

The LISD Police Department will be sporting a new addition to their uniforms soon. Body cameras will join the school officers on their daily shifts starting Sept. 18, and are anticipated to have a positive impact. The cameras, purchased through a grant from the Department of Justice, are slightly bigger than a pager and will be implemented at all campuses. LISD is the only school district in the nation to qualify for the federal grant. view article

A shooter opened fire at a high school in a tiny town in Washington state Wednesday, killing one student, injuring three others and sending worried parents to the school in a frenzied rush, authorities said. Brian Schaeffer of the Spokane Fire Department told reporters that one child died at Freeman High School in Rockford, south of Spokane, while three injured victims were taken to a hospital and expected to survive. view article

Longview police are investigating a loaded gun found in the middle school bathroom. Authorities say a school staffer discovered the .380-caliber weapon at the Longview Independent School District’s Foster Middle School. view article

Union Grove ISD trustees have renewed an agreement with the Gladewater Police Department to put a school resource officer in the district, Superintendent Brian Gray said. view article

A new Texas law is requiring all new school buses to have a three-part seat belt. El Paso Independent School District got ahead of the law in this year's school bus purchases. “As part of the 2016 bond we already had planned purchasing new buses,” Melissa Martinez, EPISD spokesperson, said. view article

School has been dismissed at Memorial High School after officials deemed the campus safe following a lockdown. Spring Branch ISD police said they received a threatening call about the school around 2:15 p.m. today. view article

After several months of data, researchers are now finally able to view the data collected in the UIL and UT Southwestern's ConTex concussion study. The study, implemented in December 2016, is currently a voluntary program that tracks concussions across all sports in those schools choosing to participate.  view article

In 2016, news of students fighting their peers on and around district high school grounds surfaced online frequently. The district held a town meeting and created two mentoring programs in efforts to end the violence. Now, the district is taking measures a step further.  view article

Hawkins police say no legal action will be taken by the department following an on-field altercation between the Hawkins and Cushing varsity football teams Friday night. On Friday Cushing beat Hawkins, 22-20 on the final play. After the play is when the events turned sour.  view article

What special training are school district officers required to receive? All school district police officers must complete police academy training, said David Rider, chief of Fort Bend ISD Police. State law requires officers assigned to school districts of over 30,000 students to undergo training in dealing with minors, said Gretchen Grigsby, government relations director of the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. view article

Union Grove ISD trustees are set to meet Monday to consider an agreement with the city of Gladewater for a school resource officer. view article

Two East Texas school districts could be involved in legal proceedings and an investigation by the University Interscholastic League after an altercation following a football game Friday. A play in the final seconds of the game resulted in Cushing's 22 to 20 win over Hawkins.  view article

Amarillo Independent School District is changing the way parents are notified when a classmate has head lice. Amarillo ISD will now notify the parents of students when a classmate in their grade level is discovered to have head lice.  view article

Research shows that unreasonable start times lead to chronic sleep deprivation in teens. Why are schools so slow to make changes? The latest data, part of the 2015–2016 National Teacher and Principal Survey (conducted by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics), show an average high-school start time of 7:59 a.m. and an average middle-school start of 8:04 a.m. That’s unchanged from the previous NCES survey for the 2011–2012 school year—and much earlier than the 8:30 a.m. start time recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, and others, based on the myriad health and academic risks too-early start times pose. view article

Seguin ISD has thrown down the gauntlet, and New Braunfels ISD has accepted the challenge. On Thursday, the Seguin school district challenged its neighboring district to help raise funds for the victims of Hurricane Harvey. view article