he first case of New World screwworm in 60 years has been confirmed in Zavala County, near the Mexican border. The flesh-eating fly poses a threat to the state’s $15 billion cattle industry. view article

Officials tested a sample from La Pryor in Zavala County at a lab in lowa, confirming the infestation, Secretary Brooke Rollins said. view article

AUSTIN, Texas — Austin ISD's police chief was injured in a motorcycle crash Thursday night while escorting a district official.   According to the Austin Police Department (APD), AISD Police Chief Wayne Sneed was escorting the official, who was in a vehicle, when he was hit by one of his officers on a motorcycle. The incident happened at around 8:30 p.m. in South Austin, though the exact location is unknown at this time.   view article

An Iowa school superintendent says two of the six people who died in a fatal shooting that authorities believe was carried out by a relative were students in his district  MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — Two of the six people who died in a fatal shooting in Iowa on Monday that authorities believe was carried out by a relative were students in a local school district, the superintendent said.  The suspect, 52-year-old Ryan Willis McFarland, of Muscatine, killed himself when confronted by police later that day, according to authorities. view article

TEA’s latest transparency tool consolidates links to online educator misconduct data, student safety information, and reporting forms.  As promised, the Texas Education Agency continues to launch transparency tools designed to inform parents and protect students from misconduct by school employees.  The latest tool, announced Tuesday by the TEA, is the Student Protection Resource Center—a web page that consolidates links to online educator misconduct data, student safety information, and reporting forms in a single spot.  “These resources reflect our commitment to transparency and fostering trust in our schools,” said Levi Fuller, the first TEA Inspector General for Educator Misconduct. “The dashboard gives communities access to critical information, while the resource center brings together the tools and guidance school systems need to respond quickly and appropriately when concerns arise.” view article

It's an extension of the district's back to school "Safe Start" initiative, this time called "Project Safe Start Summer." view article

Cypress-Fairbanks ISD is notifying the public that it is holding a full-scale safety exercise on Wednesday at Rowe Middle School and the Berry Center. The exercise, in collaboration with the Cy-Fair ISD Police Department and other local first responders, will test the district and public safety partners’ response to an active campus threat. view article

Lockhart Independent School District is rolling out a districtwide initiative aimed at reducing technology use and expanding free play for the 2026–2027 school year. The Lockhart ISD Board of Trustees approved the “Childhood Unlocked” initiative during Monday night’s meeting, a move officials said supports students academically, socially, emotionally and physically. view article

As the El Paso Independent School District nears a decision on hundreds of potential layoffs and the Ysleta Independent School District continues to navigate financial strain, the Socorro Independent School District (SISD) is reporting signs of financial progress. view article

McALLEN — The federal government is ramping up efforts in Texas to combat the spread of New World Screwworm, a pest that could devastate the cattle and wildlife industries in Texas and the nation.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a slew of new initiatives and investments to monitor and prevent the spread of screwworm, which is traveling north through Mexico and was detected about 370 miles south of the U.S./Mexico border in July.  Screwworms are parasitic flies that lay larvae in open wounds of live, warm-blooded animals, causing them serious harm and, potentially, death. view article

Kinney County Judge John Paul Schuster declared a local state of disaster over the threat posed by the New World screwworm. The order from the border county activates local and interjurisdictional emergency management plans, authorizes use of all necessary county resources, and directs county officials to coordinate with state and federal agencies on surveillance, reporting, public information, and response.  The declaration is effective for up to seven days unless extended or renewed by the commissioners court. In addition, Kinney County asked that the governor temporarily relax certain state commercial‑feed regulations in the Agriculture Code to allow medicated “feed‑through” products used to control screwworm to be approved and deployed more quickly if normal licensing and labeling requirements would slow the emergency response.  The most recent cases of New World screwworm were detected in a 5-year-old-goat in the Mexican state of Coahuila, which neighbors Texas. Since then, a total of 32 cases have been monitored, 19 of which remain active.   The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the emergency use of over-the-counter injection drug Doramectin for use in livestock to prevent any infection in the United States. view article

Officials tested a sample from La Pryor in Zavala County at a lab in lowa, confirming the infestation, Secretary Brooke Rollins said. view article

A measles outbreak in upstate South Carolina has forced more than 150 unvaccinated children out of the classroom and into quarantine, state health officials said. The South Carolina Department of Public Health said in an Oct. 9 briefing that the state has recorded its 11th measles case of the year, after a new infection was confirmed in a child from Greenville County, the state’s most populous county. view article

DPS says the new requirement will help ensure commercial drivers can communicate effectively and operate safely on Texas roads.  The Texas Department of Public Safety has ended Spanish-language testing for commercial driver’s license applicants, a move that comes just over a month after Attorney General Ken Paxton launched an investigation into trucking schools accused of certifying non-English-speaking drivers.  Effective June 1, all commercial driver’s license (CDL) and commercial learner permit (CLP) knowledge examinations in Texas must now be administered in English only, according to DPS.  The change aligns Texas testing procedures with federal English language proficiency requirements and is intended to ensure commercial drivers possess the communication skills necessary to safely operate large vehicles on public roads.   8:15 AM8:44 AMPreviously, CDL knowledge tests were offered in both English and Spanish. view article

None of the 11 people infected in South Carolina had been vaccinated for the disease, according to the state health department.  A measles outbreak in upstate South Carolina has forced more than 150 unvaccinated children out of the classroom and into quarantine, state health officials said. view article

Parents who say they were separated from children for refusing to affirm transgender identity are still fighting states in court.  Alexandra Lyaschenko hasn’t spoken with her teenage daughter in nearly two years.  In June 2024, she had been taking her daughter to see a therapist for her struggles with borderline personality disorder, hyperactivity, and trauma from bullying at school.  At first, Lyaschenko thought the therapist might be able to help with those issues.  Instead, according to Lyaschenko, that same therapist accompanied Child Protective Services on June 3 to take her daughter away from their home in Mt. Shasta, California.  “She left barefoot, and my husband did the talking, because I developed an immediate physical reaction,” Lyashcenko told The Epoch Times.  “I grabbed my son. It was the scariest day of my life.” view article

How many people in the hospital system die because of “medical errors”?The definitive answer is elusive because calculations are opaque. The definition is also opaque — “medical errors” can be consistent with everything from surgical and diagnostic errors to equipment failures and hospital-acquired infections. But general calculations indicate 22,000 to nearly 100,000 people die in hospital systems annually due to medical error, according to studies from the National Institutes of Health and National Academy of Medicine. That’s the equivalent of something like two large planes crashing every day, said Dr. Frank Filipetto, a current faculty member and the former dean of the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine at UNT Health Fort Worth. view article

School officers across the state turned to heavy-handed tactics on children, often in response to minor misbehavior, investigation shows. view article

Three students are hospitalized after a band tower collapsed in Frisco on Thursday evening, officials said. According to Frisco ISD, the band tower at Centennial High School, which was approximately 30 feet tall, collapsed, injuring several students who were climbing on it. The injured students were transported to local hospitals for treatment, Frisco ISD officials said. view article

The El Paso tent camp has seen at least three detainee deaths, a measles outbreak and nearly 50 detention standards violations in less than a year of operation.  A group of legal and civil rights organizations late Friday sued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement over conditions at Camp East Montana in El Paso, the country’s largest immigration detention facility.  “Camp East Montana is nothing short of a civil rights catastrophe,” Kyle Virgien, senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Prison Project, said in a statement. “We’re suing to ensure that no other human being has to endure the inhumane treatment that the Trump administration has inflicted on our clients.”  A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security called claims of inhumane conditions at the facility “categorically false.” view article

A Huffman ISD mother says she never knew her 15-year-old son may have been struggling with bullying before he took his own life. Now, as parents and students in the community speak out, mental health experts are warning families to pay attention to signs that children may be suffering in silence. view article

A former Magnolia ISD teacher is now in custody and charged with an improper relationship between an educator and a student. Court documents reveal that 40-year-old Jason Maldonado worked at Magnolia Parkway Elementary school as a second-grade teacher. view article

Montgomery County Precinct 5 Constables are actively investigating allegations involving a former second-grade teacher that was employed at Magnolia Parkway Elementary School in the Magnolia Independent School District. The investigation began in December 2025 following a report received through Child Protective Services alleging inappropriate contact between the teacher and students. Since that time, Montgomery County Precinct 5 Investigators have conducted multiple forensic interviews with students, interviewed witnesses and school personnel, and contacted numerous families associated with the classroom. view article

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