The state may soon take greater control in North East Independent School District because of an ongoing disagreement over the district’s cellphone policy. The Texas Education Agency notified NEISD on Tuesday that it could appoint a conservator or board of managers to oversee the district after trustees refused to change a policy that allows student cellphone use during limited periods of the school day. view article

The La Joya Independent School District announced Monday afternoon an extension of authority from the Texas Education Agency and a change in board membership. According to a release, the Texas Education Agency will oversee the district through February 1, 2028. view article

Paul Laurence Dunbar High School teacher Edriana Cofer’s biggest fear as Texas takes control of Fort Worth ISD is losing her autonomy to help students. The unknown of what’s next had Dolores Huerta Elementary teacher Angela Andrews thinking about jobs outside FWISD. view article

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has approved the vast majority of Austin ISD's turnaround plans to improve failing schools. Austin ISD Superintendent Matias Segura sent a letter to parents on Thursday night stating that the TEA approved 22 of the 24 plans. The schools affected by the turnaround plans are: view article

For the first time, the Connally ISD community came face to face with the Texas Education Agency to get answers and more details about a timeline on the future of a TEA takeover. view article

Parents and students spoke out during a Fort Bend ISD school board meeting, raising concerns that the district’s long-range boundary planning could lead to school consolidations and major changes for campuses and the surrounding communities. view article

A recently elected Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD (SCUCISD) board member was terminated from his teaching position after abandoning several children at a Judson ISD elementary school hours before being sworn in, according to records obtained by KSAT Investigates. view article

Lake Worth school board president Tammy Thomas apologized Tuesday night, her voice cracking as she sniffled and took responsibility for the decisions that led to the district’s state takeover. “The fault that the district is in lies in the hands of this board,” Thomas said. “We were slow, very slow, in appointing a new superintendent.” view article

Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District leaders severed negotiations for a similar Islamic Games event earlier this week.In a letter sent Wednesday to Cy-Fair ISD Board President Julie Hinaman and Superintendent Douglas Killian, Abbott warned the district that it may not use taxpayer-funded school facilities to host an event connected to an organization he recently designated as a foreign terrorist organization.  “It has come to my attention that Bridgeland High School intends to offer public school facilities to host the 2026 Houston Islamic Games in October,” Abbott wrote. “Be aware I recently designated ‘the Muslim Brotherhood and its successor organization CAIR’ as foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations under state law.” view article

When Dallas ISD board members meet Thursday to go over details of the district’s bond proposal, they’ll be looking at two options: One that school leaders say would increase property taxes but allow the district to make much-needed upgrades, and another that would keep property taxes the same but would leave much of that work undone. view article

Blanton Elementary will close at the end of the school year and a majority of the campus demolished, trustees unanimously decided Tuesday night.  The 69-year-old building needs major repairs while the school saw declining enrollment and failing academic performance in recent years, officials said.  Board President Justin Chapa said closing the school was one of the most difficult decisions in his time on the board.   “We have closed campuses before but not like this,” Chapa said. “We’ve done consolidations of schools into bright, new, shiny, state-of-the-art buildings. That’s how we have done it in the past. To do it without that waiting on the other side for these students is just not a position that I want to be in.” view article

Amy Fennell, a Republican candidate who had been challenging State Rep. Mike Olcott in the GOP primary for Texas House District 60, has withdrawn from the race after previously posting a series of social media comments sharply critical of President Donald Trump and the Republican Party.  Fennell’s withdrawal follows months of public posts opposing Trump’s return to the White House, promoting messaging from former Vice President Kamala Harris, and attacking Republican leadership and party priorities. view article

After a three-hour executive session on Tuesday, the Conroe ISD Board of Trustees appointed Agueda “Aggie” Gambino to fill the board’s vacancy following former Trustee Tiffany Nelson's resignation. Nelson resigned last month and announced her bid for the State Board of Education. view article

Frustration grew Monday as parents addressed school board members at a special meeting in Celina ISD. “It has been 108 days since 38 families got the call that pictures of our boys in various states of undress were identified in Caleb Elliott’s phone,” one mother said. The meeting was held to receive and review a third‑party investigation into former Moore Middle School football coach Caleb Elliott. Elliott was previously arrested and charged with secretly recording boys in the locker room. view article

The Texas Education Agency has denied Beaumont Independent School District’s appeal and will move forward with a state takeover of the district, with Andrew Kim appointed as the new conservator. Kim said his focus will be on strengthening the district in partnership with local leadership. “I have spent my entire career focused on strengthening public schools and supporting the incredible educators who teach our kids every day,” Kim said. “As I step into this role, I am committed to working closely with district leadership and the community to establish strong systems that work for the students, staff and families of Beaumont ISD.” view article

A former El Paso ISD board of managers talks expectations and scrutiny ahead of the TEA takeover of Connally ISD following some campuses not meeting state testing standards in recent years. view article

Caleb Elliott, a former teacher and coach in the district, was arrested last year for sex crimes involving dozens of students. He has been in jail since October 2025 for allegedly recording videos of middle school students undressing in a boy's locker room and allegedly forcing two of them to perform sexually explicit exercises. 10h ago view article

Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath has appointed a conservator to oversee the Lake Worth ISD after saying in December that the district suffered from a ‘chronic inability to support students.' The TEA said on Thursday that Andrew Kim, a former superintendent now serving as a co-conservator for the Socorro ISD in El Paso, has been appointed conservator to oversee the Lake Worth ISD's board of trustees, superintendent, and school administrators. Kim is expected to hold the position for approximately two years, during which time the district will be under the control of the Texas Education Agency. view article

At Houston ISD's headquarters Thursday morning, incumbents Bridget Wade and Myrna Guidry, alongside newcomers Felicity Pereyra, Maria Benzon and Mike McDonough, were officially sworn in to the board of trustees. But under the ongoing takeover by the Texas Education Agency, which began in 2023, elected trustees in the state's largest school district have been sidelined in favor of a state-appointed board of managers. The elected board members will not regain voting power until after the state's intervention, which last summer was extended until at least 2027. view article

It’s a new year, but public schools are facing the same fiscal difficulties, with lower student enrollment and budget shortfalls. On Monday, the Judson Independent School District school board will review the results of a school consolidation vote. The district faces a growing $18 million shortfall. The board will discuss the closure of two elementary schools, a middle school and the elimination of a Spanish immersion program. view article

A spirited discussion and new economic figures prompted the majority of the Judson Independent School District’s school board to table a vote on whether to eliminate the Spanish Immersion Program at one of its elementary schools. Four of the seven board trustees voted in favor of postponing action during the district’s school board meeting on Thursday night. view article

The Texas Education Agency received hundreds of complaints about educators’ online reactions to the conservative activist’s death.  One of Texas’ largest teacher unions wants a federal court to block Education Commissioner Mike Morath and the state education agency from investigating teachers accused of making inappropriate remarks about conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination on social media, saying the act violates legally protected speech.  A lawsuit the Texas American Federation of Teachers filed Jan. 6 argues that Morath “unleashed a wave of retaliation and disciplinary actions against teachers” when he urged school districts to report “reprehensible and inappropriate” content about Kirk’s killing last year. view article

Texas will hold its 2026 primary elections on March 3. Here are all of the candidates who have filed for the Democratic and Republican primary elections, according to the Secretary of State. Voters in each primary will choose which candidates they want to represent their party in the November general election.  Candidates are listed in alphabetical order in this ballot guide. Elections in Texas are run by the 254 counties, and each county determines the order of candidates on the ballots printed there. To see each county’s ballot order, visit the Texas Secretary of State’s site. view article

Lubbock County Judge Curtis Parrish removed Commissioner Jason Corley from office this week, the latest twist in the Republicans’ fraught relationship.  A West Texas county commissioner with aspirations for higher office was ejected from his seat this week, after the county judge accused the commissioner of violating the Texas Constitution — the latest twist in a yearslong feud between the two Republicans. view article

The Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District will soon take a crucial vote on the future of two elementary schools. The special meeting on Wednesday evening began with potential interim superintendents being interviewed in closed session. The public comment period began at 8 p.m., with 75 people signed up to speak. view article

Republican officials in Oklahoma and Florida have also launched plans to expand the presence of the conservative youth organization founded by Charlie Kirk. view article

Now that the deadline has passed to apply to serve on the board of managers for Fort Worth ISD, more details have emerged about the nearly 300 applicants. After opening applications for the board of managers following its announcement of its intent to appoint a board of managers and conservator to oversee Fort Worth ISD, the Texas Education Agency extended the deadline to apply from Nov. 21 to Dec. 1. view article

After the Austin school district’s consequential decision last month to close 10 campuses, questions remain about the enrollment process, how students will be assisted with transitions and where staff will move. view article

The Austin school district must sell two school properties this year to keep its $19.7 million deficit from ballooning. If the old Brooke or Rosedale campus properties fail to sell, district officials may have to go back to the drawing board to explore other ways to save money just months after a painful decision to close 10 schools because of budgetary and enrollment strains. view article

Luis Gomez, a trustee for Edgewood Independent School District, resigned from his position on the school board on Tuesday.   Gomez cited health concerns in a statement to the board explaining why he’s stepping down.   “I need to take care of medical issues due to my service in the military,” he said. “I want to be perfectly clear that it’s health issues and nothing else.” view article

For months, election officials across Texas have been hustling to redraw precinct boundary lines and secure polling locations and workers for the March primary election, all based on new congressional maps Republican state lawmakers drew in a rare mid-decade redistricting this summer.  County party chairs have accepted applications from candidates for precinct chair ​​— the parties’ neighborhood-level representatives — and, beginning this month, from candidates seeking congressional seats based on the newly drawn districts. view article

The Fort Worth ISD board voted 7-1 Tuesday night to appeal a decision by state educators to assume control over the struggling district, a decision that injects new uncertainty into a takeover that has upended the district. The vote to request the State Office of Administrative Hearings to reconsider the intervention came at the end of a four-hour school board meeting. view article

The Fort Worth ISD school board voted 7-1 Tuesday night to appeal the state's takeover of the district. The district was eligible for state intervention because one of its campuses, The Leadership Academy at Forest Oak 6th Grade, received its fifth consecutive "unacceptable" academic rating for the 2022–2023 school year. FWISD has since closed the campus. view article

The Austin Independent School District has released the final draft of its school consolidation plan Friday afternoon, ahead of a vote by the Board of Trustees next week. For months, district leaders have been fine-tuning their plan to close schools in a bid to reduce a $19.7 million deficit in AISD’s general fund, which is used to pay teacher salaries and cover daily operational expenses. Board members are set to discuss the recommendations and take a final vote at their Nov. 20 meeting. view article

When Lesley Guilmart's cellphone rang Wednesday afternoon, she almost didn't answer the unknown number. "I’ve been getting interesting calls from folks since last week’s win," said Guilmart, who on Nov. 4 was elected to the Cy-Fair ISD Board of Trustees. "And so I was like, ‘Oh, why not? Let me answer this.' " None of the calls were as interesting as Wednesday's. On the other line was former Vice President Kamala Harris. view article