Several East Texas school districts are considering reviewing or terminating their contracts with Lifetouch following public scrutiny of the company’s corporate ownership. The controversy stems from alleged financial ties between Leon Black, the former CEO of Lifetouch’s parent firm, and convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019.  Following the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act in late 2025, mandating the release of millions of previously sealed Department of Justice records, and the recent 3.5 million-page “document dump” of the files, the public has raised concerns about any entities with ties to the individual named in the Epstein files.  Read more at: https://tylerpaper.com/2026/02/17/tyler-area-school-districts-evaluate-ties-with-lifetouch-amid-corporate-controversy/  Black was recently mentioned in the newly released files. He resigned from Apollo in 2021.   at: https://tylerpaper.com/2026/02/17/tyler-area-school-districts-evaluate-ties-with-lifetouch-amid-corporate-controversy/ view article

On a cold winter morning in Johnson County, at the southwestern edge of the booming Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, 52-year-old Lee Oldham stands beside the Pleasant View Elementary School and wonders what the drilling waste he helped lay underneath might mean for the children inside. Surrounding the school is the partially complete 2,500-home Silo Mills development that will supply it with children and that is also built atop drilling waste, according to satellite maps and interviews. The first families moved in two years ago.  view article

The trial has started for a man whose teenage son is accused of killing two students and two teachers at a Georgia high school in 2024 view article

Texas Christian University junior Sofia Collins lost her father to suicide in 2018. She noted because of the grief, her family would often push talks about the tragic loss under the rug.   Her sister, Bella, brought the conversation to light in 2023 at the University of Alabama by joining others to organize a boxing match. Alabama was then the first expansion for The Fight Against Suicide, a nonprofit started at the University of Georgia, that organizes the boxing events to raise funds for suicide prevention and research efforts.  That first expansion was a knockout, said David Edmiston, co-founder and director of The Fight Against Suicide. view article

A Ponoma Elementary school student has died after choking on food, according to Alvin ISD. On Wednesday, Alvin ISD shared the following statement regarding the student's death. view article

The death of a third grader following a choking incident at Pomona Elementary School in Alvin ISD this week has left a community grieving and sparked renewed concerns among parents about classroom safety requirements in Texas. District officials say the student began choking during snack time. The teacher immediately performed the Heimlich maneuver and called for the school nurse. Campus police and EMS responded within minutes. The child was transported to a hospital, where he later died. view article

A Pomona Elementary school third-grader has died after choking on food, according to Alvin ISD. On Wednesday, Alvin ISD shared the following statement regarding the student's death. view article

Jury selection starts in trial for father of Apalachee High School shooting suspect in Georgia  Jury selection has begun in the trial of Colin Gray, whose teenage son is accused of killing two students and two teachers at a Georgia high school in September 2024  ATLANTA (AP) — Jury selection got underway Monday in the trial of a man whose teenage son is accused of killing two students and two teachers at a Georgia high school in September 2024.  Colin Gray faces 29 counts, including two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of involuntary manslaughter and numerous counts of second-degree cruelty to children related to the shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder. He is one of a handful of parents around the country charged with crimes after their children are accused of committing acts of violence. view article

A 16-year old student has been shot inside a high school in Maryland, and police say another student is in custody  ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) — A 16-year-old student was shot inside a suburban Maryland high school on Monday and another student was in custody, police said.  One student was found with a gunshot wound in a hallway and was taken to a hospital in stable condition, the Rockville City Police Department said in a post on Facebook.   The suspect was also a 16-year-old student, the department said. He was identified and arrested near the school shortly after. Both students were boys. view article

A student describes how he and his classmates barricaded the classroom doors with tables during a deadly shooting in western Canada Nine people have been killed and at least 25 injured in attacks at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and a home in British Colombia - here's how they unfolded  Six victims were found dead inside the school, which is around 415 miles north of Vancouver. A seventh died on the way to hospital view article

The agreement seeks to remedy a variety of concerns raised by government officials, who accused the development’s owners of targeting Latino homebuyers with predatory loans and false promises.  The owners of Colony Ridge, a Houston-area developer accused of running a predatory lending scheme that deceived Latinos, agreed to a sweeping legal settlement that will require them to invest in law enforcement and infrastructure on their properties and tighten selling practices to address a range of accusations from Texas GOP leaders and conservative media.  Chief among the allegations was that Colony Ridge developers sold land to undocumented people, giving rise to a crime-ridden complex of subdivisions about 30 miles outside Houston allegedly being run by Mexican drug cartels. view article

The New World Screworm fly poses a billion-dollar threat to the state’s economy.   The United States and Texas are fully prepared to combat a parasitic fly that poses a billion-dollar threat to the Texas economy, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Monday.  During a visit to the Rio Grande Valley with Gov. Greg Abbott, Rollins said proactive steps by the USDA and state response teams had prepared the region to eradicate New World Screwworm. This parasitic fly lays eggs in open wounds, posing a threat to livestock.  Texas leads the U.S. in cattle production, making the screwworm an extraordinary risk to the industry. Ranchers and other agriculture advocates have sounded the alarm about screwworm for more than a year.  Cases of screwworm have been detected in Mexico, as close as 70 miles from the border in the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon. view article

Austin ISD has added new protocols in the wake of student walkouts over ICE operations and immigration enforcement. Austin ISD saw students from 14 of its campuses walk out of class on Jan. 30 and since then, students from multiple Central Texas school districts have followed suit. view article

The DEA has threatened to classify kratom as a Schedule 1 substance, the same as heroin.
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SAN JUAN, Texas – From Monday, July 25, to Saturday, July 30, the Texas Health and Human Services will carry out Operation Border Health/Preparedness (OBHP). OBHP is a program that sets up sites around the Rio Grande Valley, offering residents free health services. Services include general physician services, immunizations, screenings, sport physicals, dental services, vision services, and more. Although assisting the public in maintaining their health is a goal of OBHP, the underlying purpose is to assist the community in preparing for disasters. State Sen. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen, said Operation Border Health Preparedness allows state, local, and nonprofit entities to practice setting up and operating health clinics that may be needed in the case of a public health emergency, while providing free care to the community. He said services include medical exams, immunizations for children and adults, sports physicals for students, health and diabetes screenings, and dental and vision exams. “Operation Border Health Preparedness is a great example of a smart policy that not only ensures we are prepared for future public health crises, but also provides an immediate public benefit in the process,” Hinojosa said. view article

Police officials and law enforcement experts say there’s no guarantee that officers will follow their training and confront a shooter — no matter how much training they have.  In the weeks since officers in Uvalde waited more than an hour to confront a gunman who killed 19 children and two adults at an elementary school, police departments across the state have asked themselves a crucial question: If they faced a similar situation, would they be able to quickly stop the gunman?  The images of parents and students pleading with officers to take action at Robb Elementary School on May 24 before a tactical team of federal agents finally breached a classroom and fatally shot the 18-year-old gunman deeply disturbed Marfa police Chief Estevan Marquez. view article

An increase in COVID-19 cases among children in El Paso is resulting in more absences at some schools. "Last week my child had a light cough so we decided not to take her to school to not expose the other children to her cough," said El Paso ISD parent Guerrero Garcia. view article

Some Brenham ISD parents are concerned about the safety of their children aboard school buses, while the district struggles to find people to drive them. Overcrowding and longer run times for some buses has parents worried and debating whether their children should be using school transportation. One parent, Cassi Harrison, has pulled her three children off after she says her daughter had to sit on the floor of her elementary school bus, which had students from two bus routes. Harrison says the safety of the children needs to be addressed. view article

Saying positive cases of COVID-19 are climbing to "very high rates" in the district, the Richardson ISD says they are once again temporarily implementing a mask requirement for everyone inside K-12 schools. In a letter to parents, the district said active cases of COVID-19 have increased from 49 on Dec. 7 to 1,089 on Jan. 6, an increase of more than 2100%. The previous pandemic-high number of positive cases in RISD was 367 on Sept. 3. view article

They say participation is strictly voluntary, but the Fort Worth Independent School District is offering a one-time $500 incentive to employees who get fully vaccinated against COVID. Administrators say the money is an ‘effort to provide safe and healthy environments for students, staff and visitors’. view article

In a video address by the Conroe ISD superintendent, Dr. Curtis Null gave an update on the latest numbers on Friday as COVID-19 cases in the district continue to climb. Dr. Curtis Null, the Conroe ISD Superintendent, said, “We need to do something as a community to help make sure that we can keep our schools open and keep our kids safe.” According to the district in the first two weeks of the school year, there have been over 1,100 reported positive cases that included 962 students and 176 staff. view article

Houston ISD students and employees who refuse to wear masks when the school year begins could face discipline and be forced to temporarily learn online under new guidelines released by the district. With exceptions and reasonable accommodations made for people with a “documented medical disability,” the district’s updated back-to-school plan, released Friday evening, says that those who refuse to comply with the mask mandate will face consequences. view article

As COVID-19 cases rise and schools begin to come back into session, the safety of students is a top priority for many school districts. According to a social media post by Jim Hogg County Judge Juan Carlos Guerra, JHC ISD is taking precautions to protect students against rising case numbers. view article

The largest school district in the San Antonio area said Wednesday they will not be enforcing a mask mandate, “for now,” despite a county-wide requirement issued Tuesday that students and teachers wear masks in public schools. A Northside Independent School District spokesperson told KSAT that the district will continue to “strongly encourage the use of facemasks by students, staff, and visitors to district facilities and events” but stopped short of requiring them. Meanwhile, they will “closely monitor the changing guidelines and directives” and alert the public of any change to the policy before the district’s start date on Aug. 23, the spokesperson said. view article

Round Rock ISD parents are divided on COVID-19 masking protocol, with some fighting to keep mask rules in place for their schools and others wanting it to be a choice. The school district's board of trustees recently considered relaxing the mask requirement, but voted to keep the rules in place through the end of the calendar year. view article

All Fort Worth ISD employees will soon be offered a COVID-19 vaccine. Superintendent Kent Scribner sent the information to employees on Thursday. The email states that all employees, including part-time and substitute workers, will be invited to sign up for the vaccine through the school district. view article

During and after a Nov. 9 meeting, Friendswood ISD board members and parents discussed the merits and challenges of structural changes to the district’s virtual learning program. Guidance from the Texas Education Agency released Nov. 5 gave the district significantly more options when it comes to virtual learners, officials said. But that guidance continues to change. view article

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Mackenzie Middle School has confirmed the first case of COVID-19 at the school. Mackenzie Middle School release a statement to parents confirming the case of COVID-19 on August 26, 2020. view article

School districts across the Brazos Valley will be heading back to school in the next few weeks but many are dealing with new protocols as the pandemic continues into the new school year. One area that many districts are dealing with is extracurricular activities. KBTX spoke to Bryan ISD’s Fine Arts Director, Patrick Corbett about how the district’s protocols are adjusting to fit the needs and safety for those who choose to participate. view article

The union for Austin Independent School District employees is asking the district and the state not to send employees back to school buildings in August. Union members say it is unsafe for employees and children to be in classes together. During an online news conference Wednesday, Education Austin President Ken Zarifis said the union is asking AISD to commit to online learning only for the first nine weeks of the semester, while monitoring Covid-19 cases in the city. He also asked that increased pay for employees like cafeteria workers and other support staff continue. view article

Lamar University and Nederland Independent School District both confirmed Wednesday that employees had tested positive for the coronavirus. The NISD employee was last on campus on May 20 and self-reported a positive test according to a statement. view article

Manor ISD is confirming that an employee who recently prepared and distributed curbside meals at Manor New Tech High School has tested positive for COVID-19. According to Manor ISD, the employee’s last day on campus was April 9. All staff who may have had contact with the employee have been contacted and directed to self-quarantine for the next 14 days. view article

Alief ISD has been notified that a female in her 40‘s who works for Owens Intermediate School has been diagnosed as positive with COVID-19, the district said Tuesday. The district said Owens Intermediate School continues to be deeply sanitized and although schools and offices have been closed since March 13 and remain closed at this time, all Alief ISD employees and students have been instructed to continue to follow CDC guidelines and recommendations and to continue to practice social distancing. view article

Austin ISD is announcing changes to its food services amid the coronavirus outbreak. After the City of Austin announced the first cases of coronavirus in Travis County, AISD canceled classes and extended Spring Break for students. view article