The West Independent School District was put on lockdown after a student gained access to a teacher’s PowerPoint and began typing threatening language in reference to a gun, the district said in a statement. West ISD says their Gaggle Safety Team sent them an alert about the incident at 1:47 p.m. Thursday afternoon. West Middle and High School immediately enacted their Emergency Operations Plan and were put on hold while campus police found the student, according to West ISD. view article

CLERMONT COUNTY, Ohio (WKRC) — An 11-year-old middle school student is in juvenile detention after allegedly confessing to making a threat Wednesday. The boy reported he found a note in the restroom with a bomb threat and threats to shoot the school just before 8 a.m. at West Clermont Middle School. While being interviewed by detectives, the sheriff's office said he confessed to making the note and putting it in the restroom. He said he had no intentions of carrying out any threats and there was no bomb. He reportedly said he just wanted out of school. view article

Dozens of community members gathered at the New Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church in West Dallas to discuss safety in public schools.  A Dallas school trustee gathered community members to discuss concerns about gun violence in schools after a student shot a classmate at Wilmer-Hutchins High School last week.  Dozens gathered in West Dallas to hear from trustee Maxie Johnson at the New Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church, where he is a pastor, to discuss the shooting, potential solutions to gun violence and the state’s role in safety measures.  “When I heard that a student was shot,” Johnson said, “my nerves went all over me. I didn’t know what to expect.”  Johnson, who has lost his own son to gun violence in 2019, said parents hurt whenever they receive a call reporting a shooting. “Our children are supposed to bury us. We’re not supposed to bury them.” view article

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Anthony Independent School District (AISD) is taking a high-tech approach to stopping teens from vaping on school grounds. view article

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Anthony Independent School District (AISD) is taking a high-tech approach to stopping teens from vaping on school grounds. view article

A federal judge has ordered Texas health and human services officials to pay $100,000 per day in fines for routinely neglecting investigations into allegations of abuse and neglect by children in the state’s beleaguered foster care system, according to a Monday order. U.S. District Judge Janis Jack found Texas Health and Human Services Commissioner Cecile E. Young in contempt of her court orders to fix the way the state investigates complaints by children in its care. It is the third time the state has been held in contempt of court orders since a 2011 lawsuit was filed about foster care conditions in the care of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, the child welfare arm of HHS. The judge’s decision was prompted by the “continued recalcitrance” to conduct thorough, accurate and timely abuse, neglect, and exploitation investigations by the agency’s Provider Investigations unit, which investigates those allegations, the 427-page decision reads. view article

‘We put our money where our mouth is’ for future generations, Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson says during ceremonial signing.  The mother of Alyssa Alhadeff, a student who was killed in her English class during the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, stood before a room full of lawmakers and state officials on Wednesday. Lori Alhadeff held a portrait of her daughter in her arms as she applauded Utah for becoming the sixth state to pass “Alyssa’s Law,” legislation mandating silent panic alarms in classrooms that are directly linked to law enforcement.  “We are taking momentous steps forward in safeguarding our children’s well-being,” Alhadeff said, adding the bill represents “our collective commitment to providing a secure learning environment for every child in Utah.” view article

In Texas, 49 public water utility systems have reported surpassing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s first-ever limits for five “forever chemicals” in drinking water, according to data submitted to the federal agency. Experts say there are likely more since not all water systems have submitted their data. PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are widespread and long lasting in the environment. They are called “forever chemicals” because they don't break down and can persist in water and soil, and even human blood indefinitely. The chemicals have been used since the 1940s to repel oil and water and resist heat. They have been included in thousands of household products from nonstick cookware to industrial products like firefighting foam. There are more than 12,000 types of individual forever chemicals, but new EPA standards announced last week set new limits for five of them: PFOA and PFOS have a limit of 4 parts per trillion while PFHxS, PFNA, and HFPO-DA have a limit of 10 parts per trillion. view article

A former Grapeland ISD employee has been arrested after allegedly showing an explicit image to a student. Joshua Jeremaine Kincade, 44, of Neches, was arrested on April 9 on a charge of displaying harmful material to a minor. According to a probable cause affidavit, police were notified that a complaint had been made at Grapeland Junior High School on Feb. 29. Kincade had been working for Grapeland ISD as a substitute teacher and IT assistant. He was fired for a separate incident, the affidavit says, and when a student heard he had been fired she spoke up to a teacher about a previous interaction. The student was sent to the Kalin Children’s Advocacy Center to meet with a forensic interviewer. view article

LAREDO, Tex. (KGNS) - United High School’s main campus hosted a lockdown simulation organized by the United Independent School District (UISD) on Thursday, April 11, to boost preparedness for potential emergencies. Officials from various agencies, including Laredo Fire, Laredo Police, Webb County Sheriff’s Office, ATF, FBI, DPS, and Border Patrol, were invited to observe the drill and learn about the school’s safety procedures.  Ruben Ayala, UISD’s Safety and Crisis Response Manager, emphasized the importance of collaboration, stating, “The reason why we wanted to do this is that what we’ve realized is that the more communication and collaboration with outside agencies. If something would happen, we have a better chance of success. What we’re doing is trying to have everybody working together and learn from each other so that we can make sure that our students and staff are always safe.” view article

Tyler ISD on Thursday announced an initiative to enhance online safety measures for more than 18,300 students and their parents or guardians. As devices play an increasing role in education, it is crucial that safeguards be put in place. This is why U.S. laws require internet filtering technology in schools. Tyler ISD is taking their safety strategy one step further. By partnering with a world-leading provider of parental control app technology, the school district plans to give free parental control tools to every parent in the district. view article

A life or death scene played out earlier this week inside the biggest high school in Texas. An Allen High School student suspected of ingesting fentanyl was found unresponsive in a restroom stall. While the campus was buzzing with excitement over the solar eclipse, school resource officer Matthew Johnson got an emergency call over this radio. "We got called to a high school bathroom, a student had found a kid unresponsive," Johnson said. Johnson said he raced to the restroom and realized quickly the student had suffered a drug overdose. view article

Authorities are investigating threats that were made towards Texoma schools on social media on Wednesday. The Sherman Police Department said police were made aware of a threat that was made on social media towards Sherman High School, and it is working with the Sherman ISD Police Department to investigate the threat and protect the community. In a Facebook post, Denison ISD shared that the Denison ISD Police Department was made aware of a threat that had been made towards the district on Facebook. view article

A Dallas ISD high school student has filed a federal Title VI civil rights complaint claiming the school district enables harassment and discrimination against Jewish students. The 17-page complaint was submitted to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) Tuesday by the student and StandWithUs, a nonprofit that supports Israel and works to combat antisemitism. The complaint details a log of antisemitic incidents dating back to 2021. view article

Multiple law enforcement agencies responded Friday morning to a shooting at Wilmer-Hutchins High School in southeast Dallas, according to Dallas Fire-Rescue officials. Police sources told WFAA that one student was injured and a 17-year-old suspect in the incident, also a student at the school, was taken into custody around 11 a.m. view article

ODESSA — Texas A&M is offering residents of Midland and Ector counties a low-cost test for their well water, screening for harmful — and in some cases, deadly — contaminants.  Scientists will look for three different pollutants, including arsenic, E. Coli and nitrate. They also will test salt levels.  It’s the institution’s latest attempt to encourage the estimated 13,500 private water well owners in both counties who aren’t subject to regulation to test and treat their water regularly. In particular, experts hope to inform residents about arsenic, a carcinogen they said has been found in large concentrations in West Texas water wells.  “It’s a protection thing,” said Joel Pigg, a program specialist coordinating the logistics of such events across Texas. “It’s health and safety.” view article

McALLEN — 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. view article

A chemical company, Avina Clean Hydrogen Inc., has purchased the last available water supply from the Nueces River of South Texas, raising concerns as reservoirs dwindle and drought persists. Avina’s Nueces Green Ammonia plant plans to separate the hydrogen from water, convert it to ammonia and export it as a high-tech fuel alternative to oil and gas. It’s one of several such projects currently proposed in Texas, driven by federal subsidies. Governments and scientists say this technology plays an important role in the transition away from fossil fuels. But officials in the nearby city of Corpus Christi have warned that the project could threaten the water supply for more than 600,000 regional customers. “Increased water drawn solely from the Nueces River system could dramatically increase the potential for scarcity,” wrote Corpus Christi’s director of intergovernmental relations, Ryan Skrobarczyk, in a March 1 memo to state lawmakers, first reported by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. “A new large-volume user of the Nueces River will require extensive and exact monitoring to avoid increased drought restrictions.” view article

ext month marks the two-year anniversary of the shooting in Uvalde, Texas, during which 19 elementary-school students and two teachers lost their lives, and 17 other people were shot. So far this year, there have been at least 50 shootings on school grounds, causing 16 deaths. So it's probably not surprising that more than half of public-school K-12 teachers in the U.S. are at least somewhat worried about a shooting in their place of work. In a new survey by Pew Research Center, about a quarter of teachers report that their school had at least one gun-related lockdown in the last year, and 15% had more than one. Most of the teachers whose school had such a lockdown taught at high school level and in urban areas. Teachers in urban schools were also the most likely to say they felt their school had ill-prepared them for a shooting, and the least likely to say the school had an armed guard. Overall, view article

However, experts note over 20 percent of the city’s illegal alien population have arrived by direct flights from foreign airports.  The U.S. Department of Homeland Security “secretly” approved the arrival of 33,000 illegal aliens directly into New York City, according to a senior fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies  Todd Bensman explained this 33,000 figure makes up 22 percent of New York City’s estimated illegal alien population and U.S. taxpayers are forced to finance these trips.  Meanwhile, around 25 percent of New York City’s estimated 150,000 illegal aliens were brought from Texas. view article

Chemical company Avina Clean Hydrogen Inc. has purchased the last available water supply from the Nueces River of South Texas, raising concerns of regional scarcity as reservoirs dwindle and drought persists. Avina’s Nueces Green Ammonia plant plans to separate the hydrogen from water, convert it to ammonia and export it as a high-tech fuel alternative to oil and gas. It’s one of several such projects currently proposed in Texas, driven by federal subsidies. Governments and scientists say this technology plays an important role in the transition away from fossil fuels. But officials in the nearby city of Corpus Christi have warned that the project could threaten water supply for more than 600,000 regional customers. view article

A teacher at Cy-Fair High School has been arrested and accused of having sex with a student on multiple occasions. The allegations were brought to light when Burbank’s girlfriend found text messages between him and the student on his phone. view article

Klein Cain High School teacher Kedria Grigsby and her son Roger Magee are in Harris County Jail.   view article

A teacher was arrested on child sex trafficking and prostitution-related charges involving students, Texas authorities say. Kedria Grigsby, 42, faces three counts each of trafficking of children and compelling prostitution along with her son, 21-year-old Roger Magee, who was previously arrested, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said. The compelling prostitution charge is defined as when a person knowingly “causes another by force, threat, coercion or fraud to commit prostitution.” The charge can also be applied when a person causes a child to commit prostitution. Read more at: https://www.kentucky.com/news/nation-world/national/article287509950.html#storylink=cpy view article

Electronic cigarettes were the most used tobacco product among middle school and high school students in the U.S. during 2023, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 2.1 million students reported current use of e-cigarettes, based on data from the 2023 National Youth Tobacco Survey. While the number of high school students using tobacco products declined nearly 4%, the CDC reported a 2.1% increase in tobacco use among middle school students. Dr. Devika Rao, pediatric pulmonologist at Children’s Health and associate professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center, breaks down how e-cigarettes can be harmful to children. She also gives advice about how parents can talk to their children about vaping and lists informational resources to learn more about e-cigarettes. view article

A Tom Green Elementary School prekindergarten teacher has filed a lawsuit seeking at least $1 million in damages against the driver of a concrete pump truck who caused a fatal wreck involving three other vehicles, including a Hays school district bus carrying dozens of pre-K students and school staff. The lawsuit also alleges negligence in the hiring of the driver, Jerry Hernandez, by Bastrop County-based companies F.J.M. Concrete LLC and FJM Concrete Pumping LLC and their owner, Francisco Xavier Martinez Jr. Martinez and the two businesses are named as defendants. view article

The embattled speaker said he has “not wavered” on his support for placing Democrats in leadership positions during a recent interview.  A new television ad from Club for Growth Action targets House Speaker Dade Phelan’s appointment of liberal Democrats to leadership positions.  The 30-second spot, titled “Had a Choice,” highlights several of the Democrat chairs Phelan has appointed during his tenure as speaker of the House. view article

This comes as Texas continues its efforts to curb illegal border crossings despite the Biden administration’s open border policies.  The Texas National Guard has installed new anti-climb concertina wire fences near El Paso as the border crisis worsens.  The anti-climb barricades are similar to the fences that were built in Brownsville late last year. According to KTSM, the anti-climb barricades consist of wire fence panels 12 feet tall and laced with a 3-foot thick looping layer of concertina wire. In Brownsville, the goal is to construct 6,000 feet of anti-climb barricades. view article

DENVER (AP) — In January, Jessica Vestal’s 10-year-old autistic son, who cannot speak, came home from school in suburban Denver with bruises all over his body. Other injuries followed, including a black eye in February, which she said a bus aide blamed on him hitting himself with a toy, and a bruised foot in March. It wasn't until Vestal asked to review the bus surveillance video last month, which she made public Tuesday, that she learned the bus aide was abusing her son. view article

The family of a former Lake Travis High School football player is suing the Lake Travis Independent School District, including the superintendent and athletic director, after fellow football players put peanuts in their son’s locker. In the lawsuit, which was filed on April 6, the family alleges the teens knew their teammate was severely allergic, and the district failed to take any action to prevent bullying against their son. view article

Kedria Grigsby, 42, a cosmetology teacher at Klein Cain High School was arrested Monday, according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, via X (formerly known as Twitter), along with her son, Roger Magee, 21. The latter was arrested back in November 2022 for trafficking and prostitution. view article

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — When Walder St. Louis entered the Miami pawnshop in October 2021, his shopping list contained just a few items: Two AK-47s and an AR-15. Germine Joly, then head of the Haitian gang 400 Mawozo, had placed the order from a Port-au-Prince prison. St. Louis would soon send two barrels of firearms back to the Haitian capital. Heavily armed gangs control 80 percent of Port-au-Prince, the United Nations has estimated, where they rape, kidnap and kill with impunity. Haiti doesn’t manufacture firearms, and the United Nations prohibits importing them, but that’s no problem for the criminals. When they go shopping, the United States is their gun store. The semiautomatic rifles that have wrought human carnage from an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., to a Walmart in El Paso are also being used to menace the Haitian government and terrorize the population. view article

JASPER, Texas — The Jasper community is heartbroken following the death of Jasper Police officer Christopher Sherer following a Friday afternoon wreck. Sherer served on the police force but was also a beloved School Resource Officer. Friends and loved ones said Sherer always greeted students with a smile and the only thing he loved more than protecting and serving the Jasper community, was his wife and and two daughters. view article

Klein ISD confirms a cosmetology teacher at Klein Cain High School has been arrested and is facing felony charges of sex trafficking and compelling prostitution. In a letter sent out to families with students at Klein Cain, Principal Lauren Marti and Klein ISD Police Chief Marlon Runnels said cosmetology teacher Kedria Grigsby was taken into custody for the charges. view article

A Klein Cain High School cosmetology teacher was arrested Monday and charged with child trafficking and compelling prostitution. Kedria McMath Grigsby, 42, is in the Harris County Jail. The Harris County District Attorney's Office is requesting a $250,000 bond. view article