Dwindling enrollment in the Edgewood Independent School District is a top issue in the Nov. 5 board election, which will see a recent high school graduate face off with a retiree and challenges by dissatisfied parents against two incumbents. The district’s leaders say charter school competition is the main reason enrollment has dropped 22% in five years and now stands below 10,000 students. Trustees voted last fall to close two schools and might need to close more, they warned. view article

A Grand Prairie ISD school board member is calling for an investigation into the administration over concerns about the treatment of the district's new superintendent. grand prairie isd-arredondo.png Jorge Arredondo Grand Prairie ISD Superintendent Jorge Arredondo was placed on administrative leave Wednesday night without explanation, just two months after starting the job in July. Arredondo leads a district with nearly 30,000 students. view article

Stacy Sharp, president of the Alamo Heights Independent School District Board of Trustees has resigned from the board to focus on serving as a judge in the new Texas Business Court after being appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott earlier this summer. The departure adds to a growing list of shake-ups to the governing bodies overseeing hundreds of thousands of children across San Antonio over the last year. view article

With the State Fair opening in less than a month, the Attorney General is asking a Dallas County judge to overturn the ban on guns.   view article

The mayor of Fort Worth called Fort Worth ISD’s STAAR test results "unacceptable." She’s demanding trustees take action. Mayor Mattie Parker made the comment during Tuesday night’s school board meeting. She also presented trustees with a letter backed by 40 other community leaders addressing the reforms that must be made. view article

The report says only 39% of voters support the historic bond package “to update and repair HISD buildings and for new technology.” The poll report says this is largely because there’s minimal trust for the state-appointed superintendent, Mike Miles, or trust for him to manage funds. view article

The Fort Bend ISD Board of Trustees approved a policy change on Monday that will allow the superintendent authority to remove certain books from school libraries. The superintendent will also designate someone to fulfill that role. Only two trustees voted no. view article

In 2004, a public junior college in North Texas abandoned plans to lease some of its land to a religious organization for $1 a month after the state attorney general warned that the effort could violate the law. Nearly two decades later, the college went further. After publicly posting only that Weatherford College’s board would meet to discuss property, members emerged from behind closed doors in November 2022 and voted unanimously to give a 38-acre property to Community Christian School. The property was valued at more than $2 million, according to the county’s appraisal district. view article

The Fort Bend ISD Board of Trustees are expected to vote on a policy change on Monday which could allow the superintendent authority to remove certain books from school libraries. The superintendent would also be able to designate someone to fulfill that role. view article

If you want to speak during an open forum at a Denton ISD school board meeting, you now have to register online by 1 p.m. on the day of the meeting. Meeting notices and agendas are typically posted 72 hours before each meeting. The new policy ends the yearslong on-site registration at meetings, where people could fill out a card to speak during one of two open forums at board meetings. The board didn’t give a reason for the change, though the new procedure follows a few meetings over the last year that saw a large turnout of speakers. view article

Voters can cast their ballots Nov. 5 on a historic $4.4 billion bond, the first brought to voters by Houston ISD in 12 years after the appointed Board of Managers unanimously approved the measure Thursday.   HISD's state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles unveiled the massive bond measure in May, which he says will address schools with "poor facilities and learning conditions" that will negatively impact student academic performance if left unaddressed. If voters approve it, the bond would be the largest in state history.  The effort has faced pushback from dozens of HISD community members at public meetings who have adopted “No trust. No bond,” as a rallying cry to indicate that they will be voting no after losing faith in the district’s leaders since the Texas Education Agency replaced the elected board members and superintendent with appointees in June 2023. view article

Rockwall ISD addressed parent complaints about the district's handling of sex abuse allegations on Wednesday night. Parents packed a school board meeting last night to hear the timeline of an investigation against a Springer Elementary teacher. view article

Things will look different as Houston-area students return to school this year. With local districts facing more than $850 million in budget shortfalls, districts are making substantial cuts to staffing and services, and Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District's Board of Trustees heard about it from parents Monday night. view article

The mother of a student involved in claims of civil rights violations in Carroll ISD says the district’s decision to end negotiations with federal investigators is disappointing. Carroll leaders last week declared an impasse in negotiations with officials from the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, saying in a letter to OCR attorneys that the district hasn’t received necessary information to negotiate a resolution. view article

In a decisive move that has sparked concern among the LGBTQ+ community in Tyler, the Tyler ISD school board formally denounced changes to Title IX regulations implemented by the Biden administration at the trustees' June 17 meeting. “Part of the new regulatory requirements, handed down from the executive branch, expanded the definition of sex to include an individual's self-professed gender identity,” said Wade Washmon, president of Tyler ISD board of trustees. “This was the root cause of our denouncement of the changes to Title IX, (which was) made by executive order without the consent of representatives of the governed.” view article

Midland ISD covered a lot of ground at the school board meeting on Tueday, July 30. Here are some highlights in case you missed it. view article

The Cleveland ISD special-called board meeting on July 30 was marked by intense debate as four trustees sought to terminate Superintendent Stephen McCanless. Opting to have the discussion in open session rather than executive session, as was his right, McCanless, who has been with the District for 11 years, the last three as superintendent, allowed the large crowd in attendance to hear the complaints against him directly from the four board members. view article

Hidalgo County saw two special elections on Tuesday for the Palmview City Council and the San Juan City Commission, and Peñitas has a new councilmember, all of which are the fallout of a new La Joya ISD policy prohibiting employees from public office. view article

The Flour Bluff ISD board of trustees approved raises for all staff during a board workshop Tuesday, despite budget challenges. For the 2024-25 school year, all staff will receive a raise of 2% of the midpoint of their salary range, as well as a $1,000 retention payment. The compensation plan also includes market adjustments. view article

As we approach a new school year, the safety of staff and students on campus is now on the top of everyone’s mind. In response to the increase of violence in schools over recent years, many school districts like La Vega ISD are now taking steps to ensure the safety and security of their schools. view article

The Lorena Independent School District School Board met for the last meeting before the next school year starts on July 29. It was a meeting that had such a large attendance that it required an overflow room. Also, so many people signed up to speak during the public forum that time was cut down from five minutes to two minutes. view article

Cleveland ISD’s board of trustees narrowly avoided a vote to buy out Superintendent Stephen McCanless’ contract late Tuesday night, a move that could have cost the school district upwards of $1.6 million. Throughout two and a half hours of public comment, 18 community members passionately defended the superintendent and demanded the board reconsider his removal. view article

A Roscoe ISD school board member was arrested in Nolan County on July 19th. 55-year-old Allen Richburg was arrested for one count of assault on a family member by impeding breath. At a special school board meeting on Monday night, board members voted to censure Richburg. view article

Bonnie Wallace attempted to challenge several library books, but was told the new policy only allows school employees and parents or guardians of current students to raise content concerns.  As the battle over inappropriate content in children’s libraries continues, one Llano ISD resident has been halted from challenging books by a new school district policy.   Bonnie Wallace, whose daughter graduated from Llano High School a few years ago, has a list of 207 books that she wants removed from the Llano ISD library shelves for vulgar or inappropriate content.   She submitted the paperwork to challenge 21 books at the beginning of the year. After being told it would take a month to review each book, she held off submitting any additional challenges.  view article

Pushing back against the recommendation to raise school meal prices, the Canyon Independent School District voted unanimously to forgo the state’s recommended increase and to seek a waiver for raising prices for the school year. The proposed price increase would have raised all meal prices by 10 cents across the board. All elementary lunches would have gone from $2.60 to $2.70, and secondary lunches from $2.80 to $2.90. Breakfast would have increased from $1.80 to $1.90 for both secondary and elementary students. No changes would have been made to the free or reduced lunch program. This price adjustment was to be done in accordance with the Texas Department of Agriculture’s guidance and federal standards. view article

The Texas governor used his time on the Republican convention stage to praise Trump on border security and to challenge the Democratic president.  MILWAUKEE — Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday sharply attacked President Joe Biden over immigration, telling Republican National Convention delegates that the current administration has abdicated its duty to secure the country before falsely crediting former President Donald Trump with “eliminating illegal immigration.”  “Biden deserted his duty on his first day in office,” Abbott told thousands of delegates gathered in Milwaukee. “He gutted President Trump's policies, and the result has been catastrophic.”Abbott also vowed to continue sending migrants to so-called “sanctuary cities” in northern states such as New York or Illinois, a policy that has cost Texas taxpayers at least $148 million since it was announced in 2022.  “When Joe Biden and Kamala Harris refused to even come to Texas to see the border crisis, I took the border to them,” he said. “...We have continued busing migrants to sanctuary cities all across the country. Those buses will continue to roll until we finally secure our border.” view article

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott brought a familiar script with him to his prime time address to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Wednesday night, hammering against Democratic President Joe Biden's border and immigration policies and touting the Lone Star State's response to the surge in migrants at the Texas-Mexico border.  "Joe Biden deserted his duty on his first day in office," Abbott told the cheering delegates, many of who waved mass-produced bright blue placards saying "Mass Deportation Now!" "He gutted President (Donald) Trump's policies, and the result has been catastrophic. Under Joe Biden, illegal immigration has skyrocketed."  Abbott affirmed to the convention that Trump, if elected, would "send them back," referring to undocumented immigrants.  Since Biden ousted Trump from the White House after the 2020 election, Abbott swiftly assumed the mantle of the nation's loudest voice for beefed-up border security. And the three-term Republican governor of the U.S. state with largest border with Mexico made sure the GOP delegates inside Milwaukee's Fiserv Forum knew it.  Abbott has been a Trump stalwart dating back to the former president's first campaign in 2016. This cycle Abbott gave Trump his endorsement in November 2023, and in February the governor and the former president joined forces in Eagle Pass where Abbott had amassed a militarized encampment in that border city as part of his $11 billion Operation Lone Star initiative. view article

The district’s state-appointed leadership faces an Aug. 18 deadline for deciding whether to place a bond measure on the Nov. 5 ballot. The proposed bond package would be the largest ever for a Texas school district and the first for HISD since 2012. view article

For her last major announcement for the school year, La Joya ISD Superintendent Marcey Sorensen officially announced at a board meeting last month the district’s new central office leadership team and the organizational structure it will be operating under. It’s been no secret that Sorensen intended to restructure the district’s leadership; La Joya ISD posted job openings for its new top-level positions in April. view article

The La Joya Independent School District policy barring employees from holding public office has caused a ripple effect well outside of the district’s boundaries resulting in multiple resignations, prompting cities to call special elections — all at the cost of the taxpayer. The policy, approved in April, prohibits employees who are equal to or above an assistant principal, center office employees that have the responsibility of public funds, and administrators or supervisors of other employees from holding public office. view article

Katy ISD's controversial new gender policy requires parents to be notified if students identify themselves as transgender, and it's impact is becoming clearer. Kade Carter is a lot of things: a gamer, a musician, and a son. But, the 17-year-old, who has won awards for his poetry and artwork, is a high school dropout. view article

Carroll ISD board President Cam Bryan updated district residents on the status of the district’s Title IX lawsuit during the board’s regular meeting June 24. During his remarks, Bryan reminded district residents the new Title IX rules being implemented by the Biden Administration will go into effect on Aug. 1 in Texas. He added that courts in Kentucky and Louisiana have stopped the implementation of the new rules in their respective states. view article

The Judson Independent School District Board of Trustees approved a 1% pay increase for teachers, librarians, counselors and nurses on Tuesday night. The pay increase will take effect during the upcoming 2024-2025 school year. A $500 one-time incentive payment will be provided to all other staff, to be disbursed in December. view article

THE COMO-PICKTON CISD BOARD OF TRUSTEES HAS BEEN NAMED THE TEXAS ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS (TASA) SCHOOL BOARD OF THE YEAR FOR REGION 8. TASA CREATED THE SCHOOL BOARD AWARDS PROGRAM IN 1971 TO RECOGNIZE SCHOOL BOARDS WHOSE DEDICATION AND ETHICAL SERVICE HAVE MADE A POSITIVE IMPACT ON THE SCHOOL CHILDREN OF TEXAS. THIS YEAR, THE COMO-PICKTON CISD’S SCHOOL BOARD HAS EXEMPLIFIED THESE TRAITS AND WORKED HARD TO ENSURE THAT THE EDUCATION OF ITS COMMUNITY’S CHILDREN REMAINED ITS TOP PRIORITY EVEN AS THE DISTRICT OVERCAME OBSTACLES OF REBUILDING THEIR SCHOOL AFTER A DEVASTATING TORNADO. COMO-PICKTON BOARD PRESIDENT, DJ CARR, NOTED THAT HE WAS HUMBLED BY THE HONOR. HE PRAISED THE SCHOOL DISTRICT’S TEACHERS, STAFF, AND ADMINISTRATORS FOR ALWAYS KEEPING view article

A big congratulations is in order for the Marion ISD Board of Trustees, which has been selected as one of the top school boards in Texas. The Marion school board has been named the 2024 Regional School Board of the Year for Education Service Center 20. Marion ISD Superintendent Don Beck is thrilled by the recognition. Dr. Beck says this is a well-deserved recognition for this particular group of trustees. view article