A university system regent has sought input from the victims’ families about restoring the tradition, which was suspended after the 1999 tragedy.  Building the Aggie bonfire was once among the most prized student traditions at Texas A&M University. That changed when the 60-foot stack of logs fell and killed 12 people in 1999, becoming one of the most painful chapters in the university’s history.  Now, 25 years after the tragedy, the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents is considering bringing the tradition back ahead of the school’s first football match against the University of Texas at Austin in years.  Texas A&M President Mark Welsh formed a committee in November to explore how to commemorate the renewed football rivalry with UT-Austin, as the Longhorns join the Southeastern Conference this year. In a January letter obtained by The Texas Tribune, regent and rivalry committee member John Bellinger wrote to families of the 1999 bonfire victims asking for input on the possibility of resuming the bonfire with oversight from the university’s administration. view article

Klein ISD confirms a custodian who worked at Zwink Elementary School died after suffering a medical emergency Tuesday. view article

A federal lawsuit has been filed against Fort Bend Independent School District over shocking allegations involving an elementary student with autism. That little girl hasn't been at Oakland Elementary School in Richmond since October, according to her parents. But her mother told ABC13 that her daughter's mental scars remain. view article

The National Transportation Safety Board on Monday opened an incident investigation into a crash last month involving a concrete pump truck and a Hays district school bus carrying 11 adults and 44 prekindergarten students. A student and a motorist driving behind the bus died in the wreck.  The federal agency is investigating the March 22 crash to gain information that could help officials understand similar crashes to determine potential safety improvements, said Kristin Poland, deputy director of Office of Highway Safety at the safety board, in an interview Wednesday. The agency has open investigations into two recent school bus crashes in West Virginia and Illinois.  Unlike a full investigation, the safety board won’t send investigators to the crash site or issue a report or recommendations related to the Hays crash. While she declined to comment on the details of the March 22 crash, Poland said these investigations seek to understand the safety features of the vehicles involved in a crash as well as other factors that could have led to a wreck. view article

A former Cy-Fair Independent School District teacher has pleaded guilty to injuring a kindergarten student with special needs after reportedly dragging him by his ankle down the school’s hallways in September of 2022, according to court documents. view article

A Spring ISD middle school student was arrested Tuesday after a search led to the discovery of a weapon, according to the school district. In a statement, Spring ISD shared that the weapon was found during a random K9 search at Claughton Middle School. Upon finding the weapon, the district police and school administration immediately launched an investigation, and the campus was put on a hold. view article

EL PASO — On the sunny morning of Texas’ March primaries, Jorge Trujillo, 73, a retired packing factory salesperson, stood outside a senior center here canvassing for Homer Reza, a Democratic candidate for the Texas House. A white sheet of paper taped to the community center’s door tallied the day’s voters: Only 60 people had cast a ballot by noon. “I think people have given up on politics,” Trujillo said, standing in the parking lot with his wife, Sylvia. “Seeing all this division, they simply don’t care anymore.” The situation was stark, but not particularly surprising. This West Texas border town — with more than 677,000 residents, most of them Mexican American — is in a low voter-turnout county in a low voter-turnout state. view article

As schools across the state work to improve their on-campus safety, Bryan ISD found a new security concern they’re looking to address. Students aren’t lining up in the cafeteria for lunch, they’re using apps and services like DoorDash to have their favorite foods delivered right to school. view article

On Sept. 6, 2022, a 5-year-old boy, enrolled in an Early Childhood Special Education class, was in the school gymnasium when he became upset and left the gym after he opted not to participate in a game other students were playing, charging documents read. Hall reportedly followed the boy and found him lying on the floor, kicking, screaming and cursing. She grabbed him by the ankles and pulled him on his back down the hallways, documents read. view article

The driver of a concrete truck that drifted into oncoming traffic and collided with a Hays ISD school bus last Friday has been charged with criminally negligent homicide, according to Bastrop County criminal records. The charge is a state jail felony, the least severe of all felonies, punishable by up to two years in jail and a fine of up to $10,000. view article

Hays Independent School District has released two videos from cameras on a school bus involved in Friday’s deadly crash with a concrete truck. One video shows the front of the bus as it’s driving in western Bastrop County, bringing pre-K students from Tom Green Elementary School and 11 adults home from a field trip to the Bastrop Zoo. The other video is from a camera on the side of the bus. view article

A former Cy-Fair ISD staff member will spend nine years in prison for inappropriately touching an 18-year-old Life Skills student, according to court documents. Ennis Hernandez pleaded guilty to inducing a child into sexual performance and having an improper relationship with a student. In each case, he was sentenced to nine years, but both sentences must be served concurrently. view article

A Caddo Mills ISD employee has been arrested and charged with possession of child pornography, according to the district. The employee, Sean Day, worked in the district warehouse overseeing custodians and did not supervise any students. view article

Ennis Hernandez, the former Cy-Fair ISD paraprofessional who was found to be inappropriately touching a student at the school he worked at, has been sentenced. Hernandez was sentenced to nine years in Harris County Jail after being charged with having an improper relationship with a student and the sexual performance of a child. view article

Since Randall Mays was sentenced to death in 2008 for the murder of two sheriff’s deputies, his lawyers have argued his intellectual disability exempts him from execution.  The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals re-sentenced a 64-year-old man on death row to life in prison without parole on Wednesday after a state expert confirmed in trial court that he is intellectually disabled.  Randall Mays was sentenced to death in 2008 for the murder of two sheriff's deputies in Henderson County but in the years since his legal team has filed multiple appeals arguing he is exempt from execution due to his mental competency and intellectual disability.  Over two decades ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that executing people with intellectual disabilities violates the Eighth Amendment’s restriction of cruel and unusual punishments, which the criminal appellate court cited in its resentencing decision. view article

LUBBOCK — Cows in the Texas Panhandle have tested positive for the bird flu, another blow to the Texas dairy industry following historic wildfires that killed at least 7,000 livestock.  The discovery, reported at two different dairies, is believed to be the first time the disease was found in livestock, researchers say.  Strains of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, commonly known as the bird flu, were confirmed Monday by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The state agriculture department is also monitoring the outbreak. Similar outbreaks have been reported at dairies in Kansas and New Mexico.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture said there is no safety concern to the commercial milk supply. Consumer health is also not at risk, the department said. The milk from impacted animals is being dumped or destroyed and will not enter the food supply. view article

Community members in the Hays school district support and donate money to families impacted by the Friday school bus crash. Houston ISD is expected to expand several of its controversial reforms during the 2024-25 school year, according to a preliminary version of the district's plans shared earlier this month. HISD's state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles presented a draft version of the district’s action plan to the District Advisory Committee last week, along with the Board of Managers. He also previewed the plan with the Principal Advisory Committee and the Teacher Advisory Committee. The plan, as of March 17, lists 10 of the district’s planned “key actions” for next year, which include plans to reduce hundreds of central office staff positions, call a bond election in November and mandate leadership training for principals. view article

A cement truck veered into a school bus carrying more than 40 pre-K students — including one from Seguin ISD — returning from a field trip to a Texas zoo Friday, killing a boy on the bus and a man in another vehicle, authorities said. Seguin ISD Superintendent Veronica Vijil on Monday said that one of her district’s students was on the bus. She provided few additional details but said the student was alive and not in the hospital as of Monday afternoon. view article

Lake Olympia Middle School parents are upset after a Fort Bend Independent School District police officer used pepper spray to break up a fight, affecting students who weren't involved. Stacey Alvarez said she got a text from her 13-year-old son on Tuesday afternoon saying there was a fight as he padded through the hallway between classes. He said that the officer used pepper spray to separate the students who were fighting, and the mist got on him. view article

LCM-CISD is working with TCEQ to begin collecting and testing water samples across campuses for lead. Little Cypress Mauriceville Consolidated Independent School District is taking preventive measures to ensure water is safe in schools. LCM-CISD is working with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to begin collecting and testing water samples across campuses for lead. Officials say that the free U.S. EPA program will last about 45 days. view article

Fairfield ISD Superintendent Joe Craig said everyone is safe and there are only minor injuries following a school bus crash on FM-488. Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Troopers responded to a crash on FM-488 near CR 232, northeast of Fairfield, at about 7 a.m. on Monday, March 25. Troopers reported the school bus left the roadway and struck a utility pole. The school district believes the inclement weather “likely contributed to the accident.” view article

The Vernon Independent School District and Wilbarger County Sheriff’s Department found a handgun on the Vernon Middle School campus. The WCSD informed VISD the morning of March 25, a Facebook post from VISD said. The same morning, the School Resource Officer and WCS deputies searched a student’s locker and found a handgun. The student with the handgun and another involved student were questioned at the Sheriff’s Office. The parents of both students were contacted. view article

The Texas Department of State Health Services has updated its COVID-19 school attendance exclusion criteria to match the requirements for other respiratory viruses like the flu. view article

JEFFERSON COUNTY — A concrete platform with fading blue paint marks the birthplace of the modern oil and gas industry in southeast Texas. Weather-beaten signs describe how drillers tapped the Spindletop oil well in 1901, a discovery that launched petroleum giants Texaco, Mobil and Gulf Oil. Nearby, a red pipeline traces a neat path above flat, gravel-covered earth. French company Air Liquide started building this unassuming facility, with a wellhead and other machinery, on the iconic site in 2014 to store what it believes will be key to an energy revolution: hydrogen. The ground that once released millions of barrels of oil now holds some 4.5 billion cubic feet of highly pressurized hydrogen. The gas is contained in a skyscraper-shaped cavern that reaches about a mile below ground within a subterranean salt dome. view article

After months of pressure, the Texas Medical Board proposed narrow medical exceptions to the state’s near-total abortion ban during its March 22 meeting. The board has been silent on the issue since Texas’ “trigger law” took effect in August 2022, banning nearly all abortions except to save a pregnant person’s life or prevent serious injury. The law does not include exceptions for rape or incest. The board opted to consider new guidance following calls for clarity from patients, doctors and lawmakers. Nearly two dozen women sued the state in the past year after they were forced to carry nonviable pregnancies under the abortion law. view article

As Texas school districts work to comply with House Bill 3—the requirement that all schools have at least one armed officer on campus—Austin ISD officials are doing so “their way” with a new motorcycle unit within the district’s police department. view article

wo boys in Texas have been arrested and taken into custody after they allegedly stabbed a woman who was left hospitalized and in critical condition, according to Fox News Digital.  The stabbing took place on Saturday at a residence on April Valley Court in Harris County around 2:00 p.m. The boys, aged seven and 12, returned to the home after a possible confrontation with the 59-year-old female victim.  After the incident, the boys quickly fled the scene. The woman was transported to a hospital by life flight, according to sheriff Ed Gonzalez. view article

Earlier on Friday, an email containing threats were sent to members of the Midland ISD School Board and a MISD administrator, according to MISD. MISD tells NewsWest 9 that the emails contained threats about books concerning parents that were brought up at Tuesday's MISD board meeting. MISD says police have been notified of the threats and law enforcement agencies are now investigating. view article

The Houston Police Department is investigating a deadly crash involving an Alief ISD school bus and another vehicle in southwest Houston on Saturday. Police say the accident happened at about 4:25 p.m. along Highway 59 at Fountainview, where the driver of a Volkswagen collided with an Alief ISD school bus. An Alief ISD spokesperson told ABC13 that the students on the bus were coming back from an out of city event. view article

After objection from district parents, Midland Independent School District says a sexually explicit library book, titled Push, is no longer shelved in its school libraries. “MISD has collected the books of concern that were brought to the attention of the school board to expedite the review process and will follow the legal framework and board policy EF (LOCAL) to review them,” Midland ISD Chief Communications Officer Lyndsey White told Texas Scorecard. “The book Push by Sapphire was not found in any of the campus libraries even though the district’s online catalog indicates there is one copy at Midland Freshman High School and a lost copy at Legacy High School,” White continued. view article

Public health agencies in Texas and across the world spent most of 2021 working overtime to distribute the COVID vaccine, the public’s best defense against the virus that has killed more than 100,000 Texans since 2020. Now, though, that same work is effectively banned in Texas. A provision in the state’s budget passed in May 2023 prohibits any entity funded by the state health department from promoting COVID vaccines in fiscal years 2024 and 2025. view article

The Austin ISD Police Department announced the creation of its new motorcycle unit Wednesday morning. The unit was launched in order to meet the requirements of Texas House Bill 3, a school safety bill passed in 2023. Superintendent Matias Segura said they had to be intentional about the way they went about it. view article

House bill 3 went into effect in September and mandated changes in security systems at schools across the state of Texas. These changes include new or upgraded security fences at schools in Beaumont ISD. "We have always had, as one of the priorities of our district was to ensure that students and staff were safe, we've always had fencing or gating," says Beaumont ISD Police Chief Joseph Malbrough. view article

Terrell County Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland has 54 miles of U.S.-Mexico border in the West Texas jurisdiction he patrols, and five deputies. Cleveland said he “fully” supports Texas’ new immigration law that will let authorities like him arrest people suspected of illegally entering the state from another country. He also appreciates Operation Lone Star, the state’s border security initiative that has given him funds to hire two deputies and buy equipment and vehicles. But Cleveland, who served as a Border Patrol agent for 26 years before becoming sheriff of the county where he grew up, must also contemplate reality. His jail can only hold seven people, he said. The nearest legal points of entry into the country, through which those arrested under the new law would have to be returned in some instances, are hours away. view article

The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals moved to place the law on hold again yesterday.  As the battle over Texas’ new border security law continues to wage on in the courts, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told Chris Salcedo he “still feel[s] very good” about the law. After the U.S. Supreme Court moved to allow the law to go into effect on Tuesday afternoon, mere hours later in the evening, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals put the law on hold yet again.  Whatever the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decides, Patrick said he expects the case to land back in the Supreme Court.  view article