The A&M Board of Regents came to want a more explicitly conservative leader who would shut down controversy before it reared its head, as members grew weary from the steady drumbeat of online posts accusing the university of embracing liberal ideology. view article

North East Independent School District is under pressure from the Texas Education Agency to revise its cell phone policy, which the agency claims does not comply with a new state law. The district has been placed on a "corrective action plan" due to its handling of cell phones this year. The state law prohibits student use of cell phones during the school day, but North East ISD has allowed access during lunch and passing periods. view article

Dr. Rod Paige, the former U.S. Secretary of Education and Houston school leader, has died, the mayor’s office confirms. Dr. Paige served as the seventh U.S. Secretary of Education. His position was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2001. He had previously served as dean of the College of Education at Texas Southern University, a trustee on the Houston ISD Board of Education and superintendent of the school district. view article

Mount Pleasant ISD is mourning the loss of one of its students. Ava Claire Hageman, 13, passed away Sunday. The school district described her as a bright, joyful spirit with a tender heart. "She loved God’s creation, especially being outdoors creating and exploring. She was particularly gifted at fishing, golfing, and really loved running cross country, playing softball, and playing basketball. Wonder came naturally to her. She was exceptionally smart and had a special gift with children, always patient, playful, and welcoming. She was the life of the party," the obituary read. view article

Fort Worth ISD’s school board approved zoning changes last night for schools that will close at the end of the year. Parents of students at Kirkpatrick Elementary School, EJ Briscoe Elementary School, Charles Nash Elementary School, and Riverside Applied Learning Center now know where their children will go to school in 2026. The vote came after the student council president at Riverside spoke against the changes. view article

Gov. Greg Abbott is backing away from a casino expansion effort he previously signaled openness toward, marking a significant a shift after years of high-dollar lobbying and campaign cash from casino interests failed to move lawmakers toward legalized gambling.  In a new interview with CBS 11 News, Abbott said he is “not there yet” on casino legalization, citing concerns over addiction and recent sports-betting scandals involving athletes.  view article

With a new middle school set to open in the 2026-27 school year, Prosper ISD officials have set new attendance zones for its middle school campuses. The district's board of trustees approved the attendance boundaries during a Nov. 17 board meeting. view article

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says Texas should create its own version of President Donald Trump’s new child investment accounts, announcing that the state should provide every Texas newborn with an additional $1,000 in publicly funded, long-term savings beginning in 2027. The initiative mirrors and expands upon the federal Trump Accounts program created under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, which seeds every American newborn’s account with $1,000 that cannot be accessed until adulthood and grows through investment in a broad U.S. stock-market index. The accounts are intended to accumulate wealth from birth and teach families and children long-term financial planning. view article

California-owned energy company Oncor has ties to the project expansion, a move expected to boost its profits at the expense of Texans.  Records show that Oncor, the largest energy delivery company in Texas, played a pivotal role in transforming a regional reliability project into a statewide mega-expansion—one that will drive up Texans’ energy bills while benefiting the company financially.  The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which oversees Texas’ energy grid, approved the TX 765-kilovolt (kV) Strategic Transmission Expansion Plan Comparison (STEP) project in August. Experts say this was done without legislative or public consent and will burden Texas’ energy prices for years to come.The proposed plan includes three 765kV Extra-High Voltage (EHV) electric transmission lines going into the Permian Basin area, as well as two 765kV EHV transmission line projects to connect the western and eastern loop point-to-point electrical connections. view article

Texas earmarked $1.4 billion to help fund flood prevention projects. But after learning that so many communities turned down the money, two lawmakers who approved the program acknowledged it was flawed. view article

On Monday, Fort Bend ISD board members met. The majority of the meeting was focused on the districts long-term boundary plan. Earlier this year, the district announced its looking to make changes mainly due to declining enrollment -- a plan that the district says could close schools and rezone students. view article

A freshman student in the Lewisville Independent School District died after being struck by a pickup truck on Tuesday afternoon.  view article

When the Texas Education Agency Commissioner holds closed-door meetings with a national partisan group like Turning Point USA and the lieutenant governor follows up with a million-dollar pledge to put that group’s chapters in every high school, something fundamental is changing in our state. view article

As more and more students face behavioral health challenges such as anxiety, depression, trauma, and ADHD, Waco ISD is helping give their students access to licensed behavioral health professionals. Thanks to a new partnership between the district and Waco Family Medicine, clinicians with Waco Family Medicine will soon be placed at Cesar Chavez, Tennyson, and G.W. Carver middle school. view article

Belton ISD's Chisolm Trail Elementary is bringing back a beloved tradition to help students in need this Christmas season, the Elf Closet. Every year since the school opened in 2013, Chisolm Trail has opened the Elf Closet, an annual holiday shop that allows parents to choose holiday gifts for their children, free of charge. view article

Fort Bend ISD will unveil elementary rezoning scenarios on Dec. 15. view article

A North Texas mayor is offering to raise millions of dollars to spare two schools from closing, but he said the school district declined the offer. Grapevine Mayor William Tate has previously floated the idea of raising taxes to prevent Bransford and Dove elementary schools from closing within Grapevine-Colleyville ISD. That didn't take hold. view article

Coahoma Independent School District is preparing to welcome families and neighbors to its cherished annual Winterfest on Thursday, December 4, 2025, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Coahoma High School. The evening offers the perfect way to kick off the holiday season with a festive mix of student talent, seasonal treats, and family fun. Guests can stroll through the school and explore impressive hands-on projects and demonstrations from the district’s Career and Technical Education programs, which highlight the practical, real-world skills students are gaining in areas such as agriculture, welding, health science, business, and more. view article

Gatesville ISD announced that Intermediate aide Charlie Barnhill died unexpectedly during the Thanksgiving break. Barnhill graduated from GHS in 2011 and had a reputation as a talented musician during his high school years and afterward. He came back to GISD a couple of years ago to work as a substitute teacher. view article

For Mary Simms Patrick and Galveston ISD, that spirit is seen through their work helping students and their families through the district's Special Programs department. "We figure out what are the needs of the family. We have different organizations that help us with our food, help us with clothing," said Patrick, who serves as executive director. view article

The Decatur ISD community is mourning the death of a McCarroll Middle School student following a reported accident, district officials said Sunday. In a letter to families and staff, Decatur ISD confirmed the death of Treb McKinnon, a student at McCarroll Middle School. District officials did not release details about the accident. view article

Temple High School will experience a two-hour delay start on Monday, Dec. 1, because of a broken water line on 31st Street, according to Temple ISD. Classes will officially begin at 9:30 a.m. and high school buses will also run two hours later. Dismissal is expected to be unaffected, the school said. view article

Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday named two Islamic groups as terrorist and criminal organizations, banning them and those associated with the groups from purchasing or acquiring land in Texas.  Abbott designated the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, as transnational criminal organizations.  In announcing the designation, Abbott accused the two groups of supporting terrorism across the world and of subverting Texas laws through harassment, intimidation and violence.  “The actions taken by the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR to support terrorism across the globe and subvert our laws through violence, intimidation, and harassment are unacceptable,” Abbott said in a statement. view article

How a Dan Patrick Political Operative Is Literally Rewriting the Story of the Alamo:  Months before top Republicans forced out the widely respected leader of the Alamo’s $500 million redevelopment for being too “woke,” a close political aide to Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick undertook a literal rewrite of the heritage site’s three-hundred-year history. Some time in the summer, Patrick tapped Sherry Sylvester, who worked as his adviser for five years of his tenure as lieutenant governor, to “review” the 20,000-word text panels in development for the new Alamo museum and visitors center, scheduled to open in 2027. Sylvester’s job was to get the drafts ready for Patrick’s eventual assessment.  view article

Some Fort Bend ISD parents signed up to speak out Monday about potential school boundary changes for the 2026–2027 school year during the district’s board meeting. Even though rezoning was not on the meeting’s agenda, the district’s Deputy Superintendent and Chief of Staff spoke to KHOU 11 exclusively about the plans and why they’re being considered. view article

Some Fort Bend ISD parents signed up to speak out Monday about potential school boundary changes for the 2026–2027 school year during the district’s board meeting. Even though rezoning is not on the meeting agenda, Deputy Superintendent and Chief of Staff Beth Martinez spoke to KHOU 11 exclusively about the plans and why they’re being considered. view article

The law requires school employees to use names and pronouns that conform to students’ sex at birth.The law requires school employees to use names and pronouns that conform to students’ sex at birth.  Ethan Brignac, a transgender student at Wylie East High School, has been “Ethan” since seventh grade — to his friends, family and teachers. When he reached high school, his dad further validated his chosen name by requesting “Ethan” be used in school records, including in his email, class rosters and ID, which his teachers honored until this fall.  Three weeks after Brignac started his senior year, Wylie East administrators called him to the library and gave him a new ID. On it, in white capital letters, was a name he hadn’t been called in five years. view article

Fifteen families representing 16 children are now part of a civil lawsuit against Midland ISD and several former employees after details of alleged child abuse at South Elementary emerged in September. view article

Wichita Falls ISD is taking steps toward a major addition to its athletic programs with a plan in place to add wrestling to sporting opportunities for students. view article

In his announcement, French said he would bring his “America First” approach to the Railroad Commission. view article

University officials dispute the faculty council’s conclusion. Melissa McCoul lost her job after a video of a classroom debate went viral. view article

Texans have started to receive partial SNAP payments  Some Texans started receiving SNAP benefits on Monday after food assistance payments for November were delayed for more than a week as a result of the federal government shutdown.  “SNAP clients who usually get their benefits between the 1st and 10th of the month will see partial benefits on their Lone Star Cards Nov. 10,” Tiffany Young of Texas Health and Human Services Commission said in an email. “For SNAP clients who receive benefits on or after the 11th of the month, partial benefits will be issued on their normal issuance date.” view article

If approved by the House, the agreement would fund the government through the end of January, with certain agencies funded through September, including those that provide food assistance. The U.S. Senate passed a funding deal late Monday to end the nation’s longest-ever government shutdown, sending the bill to the House of Representatives and inching closer to restoring full SNAP benefits and ending air travel chaos.  The bill was backed by nearly every GOP senator, including Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, along with eight Democrats, giving the measure enough support — 60 votes to 40 — to clear the upper chamber. The funding package still needs to pass the House, where Republicans’ narrow majority affords them only a few defections unless they receive Democratic support.  If approved, the deal would fund the government through the end of January, with certain agencies funded through September, including those that provide food assistance payments. As part of the agreement, Democrats will also get a vote on an extension of the Affordable Care Act subsidies that have been at the center of the dispute, which has left thousands of federal workers without pay since the shutdown began Oct. 1. view article

President Donald Trump's administration is demanding states "undo" full SNAP benefits paid out under judges' orders last week, now that the U.S. Supreme Court has stayed those rulings, marking the latest swing in a seesawing legal battle over the anti-hunger program used by 42 million Americans.  The demand from the U.S. Department of Agriculture came as more than two dozen states warned of "catastrophic operational disruptions" if the Trump administration does not reimburse them for those SNAP benefits they authorized before the Supreme Court's stay. view article

The Amarillo Independent School District and University Interscholastic League (UIL) have both confirmed they are aware of a situation involving a possible ineligible player on the Amarillo High varsity football team. Multiple sources in Amarillo and Lubbock athletic programs reported allegations of an ineligible player to NewsChannel 10, claiming it may impact district standings and playoff implications. view article