COLLEYVILLE – Nearly three hours into a June 6 city council meeting, Colleyville Mayor Bobby Lindamood hinted at the elephant in the room: Why have city leaders changed their tune on a proposed housing development on the border of Colleyville and Grapevine? Amid opposition from hundreds of residents concerned about the environmental impact of tree removal and increased traffic, the developers’ original plan earned a unanimous denial from city council members in February. Now, the council is considering its options amid concern that the Texas legislature will eventually force local governments to approve higher-density development within city limits. view article

Midland ISD expenditures for the 2023-24 school year are expected to have risen by 107.13% since the 2016-17 year, according to information from Tuesday’s Midland ISD budget workshop. The district showed that expenditures are budgeted to rise to $473.854 million during the upcoming school year. That total is a $33 million year-over-year increase (compared to $440.291 million in 2022-23). The district also showed the increase is greater than $245 million compared to 2016-17 (when total expenditures were $228.77 million). view article

New Houston ISD board of managers members are pledging to earn families’ trust amid outcry from segments of the community who view board members as little more than rubber stamps for state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles. The public will get its first look Thursday at the new board of managers, which is made up of nine Houstonians appointed by the Texas Education Agency to oversee HISD on an at-large basis, replacing elected board members who each represented geographic areas. Board members are adamant, however, that the nature of their appointments — which can only be reversed by Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath — and the elimination of the geographic representative system will not affect their ability to govern the whole 189,000-student Houston school system effectively view article

Hours before the polls closed, I realized my upstart campaign for a seat on my local school board was doomed. At about 4 p.m., the school parking lot in my small upstate New York town began to fill up with cars of spectators arriving to watch a critical girls’ softball matchup. For the next several hours, until the polls closed at 9 p.m., parents would be coming to school to watch their kids play sports, perform in the student orchestra, see their work displayed in a school-wide art show—and to vote. An evening of family activities that normally would warm my small-town heart suddenly felt ominous. My opponents in the campaign for school board in Greenville, New York, a town of about 4,000 people a half-hour’s drive south of Albany, weren’t the other two candidates. I ran against apathy and complacency. I raised questions about the budget and student outcomes, which seemed mediocre given the district’s per-pupil spending, demographics, and relatively low poverty rate compared to the highly disadvantaged urban schools where I’d taught. My pitch was least likely to resonate with parents flooding the school for the evening’s activities. view article

Itasca ISD Superintendent Michael Stevens has been suspended, days after he was arrested and charged with online solicitation of a minor. The Itasca ISD Board of Trustees met early Monday morning and took immediate action to suspend Stevens. The board has appointed Keith Boles to serve as interim superintendent, starting June 6. Itasca ISD says Boles has previously served in the district as interim superintendent and "is known and respected by our community." view article

The Seguin ISD is expected to finally move forward with the potential first steps needed to secure a land deal for a future third middle school. As reported last week, the school board opted to hold off on action that would allow Superintendent Dr. Matthew Gutierrez from moving forward with the purchase of a 42-acre tract of land, located adjacent to the Irma Lewis Seguin Outdoor Learning Center. view article

Midland ISD board President Bryan Murry said the district’s community bond committee has heard the facts and declared their preference for two new high schools and the price tag that goes with it. That price tag is up to $900 million, according to early estimates from the district. Does it mean that will be the direction of the committee’s final recommendation? No. Does it mean the board would vote to put two on the ballot? No. view article

A Facebook post by a Lamar Consolidated ISD board member has people in the community talking and led to a response from the district. The board member is Jon Welch and he posted on June 1 that all month, he’s celebrating the relationships between males and females. Though he didn’t say anything about the LGBTQ+ community in his post, it went up on Thursday -- the first day of Pride Month. view article

Mike Miles addressed what will happen to Third Future Schools, the charter school organization that he founded and served as CEO of, now what he has been named Houston ISD superintendent. MORE ON LOCAL: A man reported missing in Dickinson found dead two days later Third Future Schools announced that Zack Craddock, who worked as chief of schools, will become superintendent to lead the organization in Miles’ absence. view article

Major changes are in store for the Houston Independent School District. State appointed Superintendent Mike Miles said the district’s number one priority is quality of instruction to move HISD forward. Miles said his New Education Schools initiative will focus heavily on the 29 schools that feed into three of the district’s lowest performing high schools. Teachers, principals, and even the custodial staff who are not under contract must reapply for their jobs, and the district’s top teachers would be encouraged to apply for jobs at the underperforming schools for higher pay. view article

The Lamar Consolidated ISD school board president responded to incendiary comments made by a trustee on Facebook. Board member Jon Welch promoted heterosexual couples at the start of June, which is widely recognized as “Pride Month,” a celebration of the LGBTQ+ community. “I celebrate all the boyfriend-girlfriend relationships and male-female marriages throughout the world this month,” Welch wrote on his Facebook page Thursday morning. “You're often lost in the noise of our culture. But Natural Law and undiluted Truth still call to us all. And I celebrate it here.” view article

Newly appointed HISD Superintendent Mike Miles provided a handful of new details Friday about plans to reconstitute 29 struggling schools in mostly Black and brown neighborhoods after meeting with staff members at North Forest High School. Administrators, teachers and staff members at schools in the North Forest, Wheatley and Kashmere boundaries will need to reapply for their jobs, which will be opened to any qualified applicant, under Miles' “New Education System” program, he said. view article

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) approved Round Rock ISD’s Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) application for the 2023-2024 school year. Approval of the TIA allows designated District teachers to qualify for higher compensation. TEA determines the increased earnings depending on the campus need and the teacher’s designation level. TIA was made possible by the passage of House Bill 3 during the 2019 86th Legislative Session. TIA offers a pathway for high-performing teachers to elevate their annual salaries while assisting school districts in attracting and retaining highly effective educators. It serves as a channel for recognition and rewards, encouraging excellence in the teaching profession. view article

Galveston County Judge Kerry Neves of the 10th District Court on Tuesday granted a temporary injunction in a case that will impact how state history is taught in schools. The temporary injunction stops the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) from holding meetings until a dispute is resolved over the makeup of the board. The temporary injunction stops the Texas State Historical Association from holding meetings until the dispute is resolved view article

Houston ISD Superintendent Millard House II closed out his tenure as the leader of the state's largest school system Tuesday night by giving the keynote address to Carnegie Vanguard High School graduates and then handing his own daughter her diploma. “I happen to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you have been working extremely hard with your family, your community around you, to make this day a possibility in your lives,” House told the graduating class of 2023. “I would reveal my source as to how I know that, but she’ll be riding in the car with me after she walks across the stage.” view article

The superintendent at San Elizario Independent School District told KFOX14 the school district is prepared for the new school year that has students and staff going only four days a week. view article

What exactly will happen when the state takes over Houston Independent School District, the largest district in Texas? A member of the Texas Education Agency is in Houston answering. FOX 26's Damali Keith has more on the story. view article

Concerned family members of Plainview Independent School District students protested before speaking at the school’s board meeting on Thursday evening. Many were infuriated about the school’s response to reports of sexual behavior among first graders at South Elementary. view article

There was one business item on the agenda for Plainview's regular May school board meeting, but that wasn't why throngs of parents, community members and protesters showed up to the boardroom Thursday night. Most were there to express their outrage with Plainview Independent School District and Superintendent H.T. Sanchez for the district's handling of a mid-April sexual incident in a first-grade classroom at South Elementary School. view article

The Texas Education Agency is scheduled to outline its takeover plan at the final gathering of Houston ISD's elected trustees Thursday morning. With roughly two weeks until the TEA is planning to appoint a new superintendent and board of managers to govern the district, a representative from the state agency will present to the board its plan for the "transition from local governance to TEA governance of the district," according to the HISD meeting agenda. This will mark the second TEA presentation at an HISD board meeting. During the first presentation last month, Steve Lecholop, the agency's deputy commissioner of governance, gave a slideshow presentation and fielded heated questions from trustees. view article

Although TEA denies it, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner tweeted over the weekend that Mike Miles will replace HISD Superintendent Millard House II. Here's what we know so far about Miles Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner turned heads over the weekend after tweeting a rumor alleging former Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Mike Miles had been chosen by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to lead Houston Independent School District following its recent decision to initiate a takeover of the district. "The word is the Commissioner TEA has chosen Mike Miles, former Superintendent of Dallas ISD, to be the Superintendent of HISD," Turner tweeted Saturday. "The Commissioner should confirm or deny. This process is totally flawed. One person in Austin is deciding who will be the Superintendent and Managers.". view article

The meeting focused on a range of topics including school funding and introducing new faces to the district. The school board meeting discussed a range of topics including school funding and introducing new faces to the district. ECISD leaders recently had a chance to head to Austin and meet with state politicians to push for school funding and investing in public education as the legislative session was still taking place. view article

The Marfa Independent School District Board of Trustees appointed Marfa resident Stela Fuentez to the board on Monday. Fuentez will serve as Place 1, a seat that has remained vacant since the resignation of Christa Marquez last July, and which the board previously struggled to fill due to a lack of applicants. view article

Forney Independent School District (ISD) Board Trustee Barbara Jo Green has stepped down after 8 years of service, citing personal reasons. Green's resignation was accepted at the May 16, 2023, meeting of the board. "Barbara Jo Green has served the students, staff, and families of Forney ISD since 2015 as a school board member," read a statement from the district today. "After years of dedicated service to the Forney Family, she has decided to step down for personal reasons." view article

Lufkin ISD trustees will vote Thursday on whether to terminate a contract with PTI Sports and Recreation Inc. As part of a special meeting held Tuesday to canvass election returns, superintendent Lynn Torres said the district was reaching a deadline for the grant funds LISD obtained to finance the playground projects at Anderson Elementary and Herty Primary. LISD’s attorney Wayne Haglund has been in discussions with PTI in hopes of meeting the grant deadline. Torres said a company official “embezzled the money and the subcontractor wasn’t paid.” She also said the alleged embezzler had “fled the country.” “We are conducting an internal investigation into these allegations of embezzlement,” a spokesperson for PTI told The Lufkin Daily News Tuesday. view article

The La Joya Independent School District is asking the Texas Education Agency to reconsider a recommendation for an overhaul of its school board. On Monday night, public comment leaned toward accepting the TEA recommendation at a La Joya ISD meeting. Last year, a federal corruption investigation lead to the arrest of two trustees. Last week, the TEA recommended the La Joya ISD replace its board of trustees with a board of managers. Attorney Kevin O’Hanlon says this is a concept imposed by the heads at TEA. view article

The Tyler ISD Board provisionally approved a restructured salary plan for teachers in the district. The proposal was a move to better compensate teachers in the city, and hopefully motivate talented instructors to join and stick with the schools. The plan would allow salaries to increase by a larger percentage per year, and is competitive with comparable school districts. Provisional approval allows the administration to move forward with the budgetary process while allotting for adjustment once the state budget has been decided upon. view article

The Amarillo Independent School District (AISD) inducted its new board members during Monday evening's board meeting, held at the AmTech Career Academy Criminal Justice Area. As reported by the district, the winners declared in the May 6 AISD board of trustees election, to serve four-year terms, were announced as Jon Mark Beilue, Connie Brown and Steve Trafton. view article

With the May 6 election results officially canvassed, three new board members were sworn into office on the Katy ISD board of trustees on Monday, and new officers were elected among the board. Amy Thieme, Morgan Calhoun and Mary Ellen Cuzela took the oath of office and were sworn in as Katy ISD board members for Position 3, Position 4 and Position 5, respectively. view article

The Houston ISD board of trustees held its last scheduled meeting Thursday night before the state takes over the largest school district in Texas. It was an emotional sign off from board members. “I’m not going away. I will be watching, asking for transparency, and sharing information with the public,” said Trustee Judith Cruz. view article

The South San Antonio Independent School District board of trustees suggested the possibility of cutting the pay for its superintendent, laying off executive employees and, for the fifth time, the closure of West Campus High School during a fractious meeting Wednesday night. But other than authorizing a nondescript action by the school district attorney in response to an active Texas Education Agency (TEA) investigation, the board took no actions in the meeting that lasted more than four hours. Board members also discussed the possibility of bringing in an outside auditor to report to the board on district finances as it grapples with a $12 million budget deficit and a grim financial outlook. Trustees, some of whom laid the blame for the money troubles on Superintendent Henry Yzaguirre and district staff, tabled the issue after discussing it in executive session. view article

In an effort to garner more student engagement, Mesquite ISD heard from four groups of high school students to better understand their needs. From Mesquite High School, North Mesquite, West Mesquite and Horn, members of the Superintendent Advisory Council presented key issues to the board and recommendations for improving student conditions during a Monday Mesquite ISD Bard of Trustees meeting. view article

The president of the Canyon ISD Board of Trustees asked Place 1 Board Member Paul Blake to resign earlier this week, following Blake’s recent public comments regarding the LGBTQIA+ community. Blake’s comments came during a candidate question and answer forum hosted by Trinity Fellowship Church on April 23, before the May 6, 2023, municipal election. view article

Reflecting on his election victory Saturday for Clear Creek ISD's Position 2 trustee seat, Jamieson Mackay says he hopes the campaigns run by him and opponent Glencora Rodgers set an example to influence candidates in future district races to stick to the issues and not personal politics. “We were hoping to set a tone that other people could follow for local campaigns in the future,” Mackay, 51, said of himself and Rodgers, another first-time candidate who he defeated with 51.8 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results. “She ran a great campaign, and people have been telling us that they appreciate the fact that it was cordial and friendly.” view article

Fort Worth ISD likely won’t have a balanced budget for the 2023-24 school year, according to officials. The school board on May 9 received its first look at the district’s next budget. Numbers are preliminary and could shift depending on how the Texas Legislature changes school finance laws and certified property values from the Tarrant Appraisal District, which are expected in late July. view article