With Austin ISD just days away from releasing its final consolidation plan, families at Blackshear Elementary gathered Wednesday night to share their thoughts about the proposal that could merge two East Austin schools. view article

Austin school district leadership launched an internal investigation into key staff in part over concerns about noncompliance with a directive to evaluate all community feedback on a comprehensive plan to close schools and redraw attendance boundaries, Superintendent Matias Segura told the American-Statesman’s Editorial Board on Tuesday. view article

The legislative panels were created after Republican leaders criticized students mocking or celebrating Kirk’s death. They come amid a push to tighten rules around campus expression.  Texas lawmakers on Thursday will hold their first hearing to review speech on public universities after some reactions on campuses celebrating or mocking the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk drew ire from Republican leaders.   Kirk was killed on Sept. 10 while speaking at a college in Utah. State leaders announced the formation of bipartisan committees to discuss campus speech and related policies two days later. The Senate and House Select Committee on Civil Discourse and Freedom of Speech in Higher Education will convene jointly Thursday at 9:30 a.m. in Austin and take invited testimony only.  view article

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump signed a government funding bill Wednesday night, ending a record 43-day shutdown that caused financial stress for federal workers who went without paychecks, stranded scores of travelers at airports and generated long lines at some food banks.  The shutdown magnified partisan divisions in Washington as Trump took unprecedented unilateral actions -- including canceling projects and trying to fire federal workers -- to pressure Democrats into relenting on their demands.  The Republican president blamed the situation on Democrats and suggested voters shouldn't reward the party during next year's midterm elections. view article

Texas is now in control of Fort Worth ISD.  But what does that mean for FWISD’s 65,700 students, their families and 10,000 district employees?   Here are answers to a few questions parents and community members have about Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath’s decision to take over Fort Worth schools. view article

Kate Rogers, the former president of the Alamo Trust, joins the TribCast this week to talk about her decision to step down from running the Texas’ most beloved historic site amid political pressure from Republican state leaders.Rogers walks Eleanor and guest host Alejandro Serrano through the unexpected controversy over a social media post celebrating Indigenous People’s Day, and her surprise when state leaders started sharing excerpts of her 2023 doctoral dissertation. In the paper, which she had to go back and read herself when it began circulating, she’d written that she wanted the Alamo to “become a beacon for historical reconciliation … but politically that may not be possible at this time.”  Rogers was in the midst of overseeing a politically fraught overhaul of the Alamo Historic Site, which has become a flashpoint in the ongoing debates over how to tell the story of Texas’ history. While she maintains there was nothing particularly controversial in her dissertation, she acknowledged that some parts could be read as critical of the Texas Legislature, which is the project’s largest funder. view article

Hundreds of families lost child care when certain programs weren’t funded earlier this month, and scores more may be affected if Congress doesn’t fund the government by Dec. 1. view article

The president praised Abbott for leading this year’s effort to redraw the state’s congressional maps to favor Republicans during the 2026 midterm elections. view article

The Texas Education Agency has named a former teacher and New Mexico state education secretary to oversee Fort Worth ISD in the wake of its state takeover after the district had several schools that were "academically unacceptable for many years in a row." view article

An unlikely slate of candidates with progressive backing, although they refer to themselves as non-partisan, won their bids for the Cy-Fair ISD board by wide margins Tuesday, bucking a trend of conservative leaders winning in Cypress. The three candidates — Kendra Camarena, Lesley Guilmart and Cleveland Lane Jr. — unseated two conservative incumbent trustees, Scott Henry and Natalie Blasingame, who challenged Henry directly rather than running for her own seat. view article

ersey Village, TEXAS – Voters in Cy-Fair Independent School District sent a clear message this week: change is coming to one of the state’s largest school districts.  After years under a conservative-led board, election results show a decisive shift toward a more moderate direction, with three new trustees defeating incumbent conservatives backed by right-leaning political groups.  Cy-Fair ISD, the third-largest independent school district in the state, has drawn attention for its school board battles over the past two years, from book bans and gender identity policies to the controversial firing of dozens of librarians. view article

College Station ISD voters decided a trio of races for the district’s Board of Trustees on Tuesday, potentially shifting the balance of power on the district’s seven-seat leadership team. view article

Voters in the Socorro Independent School District narrowly rejected a tax measure that would have increased funding for the financially troubled district, leaving district leaders scrambling to move forward without the additional revenue. The district’s voter approval tax ratification election — or VATRE – asked voters to authorize an increase to the operations portion of their tax rates beyond the state’s limit, while reducing the debt payment tax by an equal amount. State law requires that voters approve such a step. view article

Seven candidates and four local PACs have raised almost a combined $370,000 in funding for the heated board election for the state’s third-largest school district.   A new tranche of campaign finance documents shows fundraising for Cy-Fair ISD candidates this election cycle has reached new heights, and local PAC spending is nearing $135,000 on seven candidates in three races, according to a Chronicle analysis of over 30 campaign finance records. view article

The Clint Independent School District on Thursday approved pay raises and a one-time $2,500 payment for qualifying employees during the upcoming school year. view article

A growing number of Houston-area leaders are calling for the resignation of a Cy-Fair ISD board member after he made comments suggesting that the more Black teachers a district has, the greater the dropout rate. The comments were made Monday night during a work session about Cy-Fair ISD's equity audit report. view article

In a video address by the Conroe ISD superintendent, Dr. Curtis Null gave an update on the latest numbers on Friday as COVID-19 cases in the district continue to climb. Dr. Curtis Null, the Conroe ISD Superintendent, said, “We need to do something as a community to help make sure that we can keep our schools open and keep our kids safe.” According to the district in the first two weeks of the school year, there have been over 1,100 reported positive cases that included 962 students and 176 staff. view article

As COVID-19 cases rise and schools begin to come back into session, the safety of students is a top priority for many school districts. According to a social media post by Jim Hogg County Judge Juan Carlos Guerra, JHC ISD is taking precautions to protect students against rising case numbers. view article

A new board of trustees at Socorro Independent School District was sworn in Wednesday evening. New board members said they’re ready to get to work looking for a new superintendent for the district after Dr. Jose Espinoza resigned last week. view article

Amid Southlake Carroll ISD’s continued reckoning with inclusivity, which last week saw parents and advocates calling for the Department of Justice to get involved, two seats are up for grabs on the district’s board of trustees in the May 1 election. The dispute that candidates are campaigning during involves Carroll ISD’s controversial plan to promote cultural competency, which is tied up in court after a judge issued a temporary restraining order late last year. The plan is currently set to go to mediation as part of the lawsuit that has tied it up in court. view article

Katy ISD continued to experience upheaval Monday as Ashley Vann suddenly announced she was stepping down as board president and two new board members were sworn in, just a few weeks after Lance Hindt, the district's controversial superintendent, announced he would retire next January. When the school board returned from closed session Monday night, Vann acknowledged how proud she was to serve the school district during Hurricane Harvey and of watching the community come together, but then her tone shifted. view article

Trustees with Port Neches-Groves Independent School District are looking at ways to sweeten the pot for custodians. Trustees will hold a called meeting at noon Tuesday at the administration building, 620 Ave. C, in Port Neches where they will consider increasing the hourly starting pay rate for custodians from $8.51 per hour to $9.50 per hour. They will also consider offering additional summer work days to encourage current and future custodians a broader annual salary, which could assist in alleviating the custodian vacancy issues, according to information from the district. view article

Eagle Pass ISD administration and employees are pushing for voter participation as the Tax Ratification Election comes closer. At the Chamber of Commerce Community Breakfast on Wednesday, May 24, C.C. Winn High School Principal Jesus Diaz-Wever, Eagle Pass Junior High Vice Principal Yolanda Ramon, and Deputy Superintendent for Business and Finance Ismael Mijares stressed the importance of the election. “Saturday will be the chance for everyone in Eagle Pass to do something for these students,” said Ramon. “Our students deserve it. This is for them, we ask you to please remember that when you’re voting.” view article

The Frisco ISD School Board heard a summary of the proposed 2017-18 budget during its meeting on Monday. No action was taken. More than 50 budget recommendations were outlined in April to trim spending and generate additional revenue to address funding challenges. The recommendations were the result of months of work by employees, trustees, parents and citizens who shared ideas and input on possible solutions. Monday’s presentation included discussion of the remaining budget timeline, as well as a look at proposed budgets for both the maintenance and operations (M&O) fund, which pays for day-to-day expenses such as staff salaries, as well as the interest and sinking (I&S) fund, which pays off debt from issuing bonds to build new schools and fund other projects. view article

Here are six takeaways from the Round Rock ISD board of trustees voting Thursday to approve the RRISD District of Innovation plan: view article

The Frisco Independent School District meets Monday to work on some of the problems associated with being one of Texas’ fastest growing areas. The board will be voting on a proposal to help balance its budget by delaying the openings of four new schools. view article

The Dallas school board Thursday night voted against putting a tax ratification election before voters this fall. The proposed 13-cent tax hike would have given the district $100 million to fund early childhood education and early college high school programs. The district also wanted to expand a program that pays extra money to top teachers who take jobs in some of the district’s toughest schools. view article

Marfa ISD board of trustees groaned when Superintendent Andrew Peters announced he hired a Professional Service Provider (PSP), also known as a monitor as a result of the school district not meeting Texas Education Agency’s (TEA) academic standards. Holly Roberts, recently retired at Midland ISD, will assist MISD to meet TEA standards. Marfa ISD received an “improvement required” in TEA’s 2015 accountability rating, the only district in the tri-county area to get that moniker. Schools in Alpine, Fort Davis, Valentine and Presidio met standard and also received distinction designations. view article

Greg Aune, an Argyle ISD school board trustee, has resigned. Board members discussed in closed session whether to leave Aune’s position vacant, appoint someone to the seat or hold a special election to fill the position at Monday night’s school board meeting. view article

The Lampasas Independent School District met Monday to discuss the district’s fiscal year 2016 budget and proposed tax rates. “My idea was still to give everyone a tax break, but to make it 1 cent right now, and we could change it in a year if we need to,” board member Sam Walker said. “I think we are jumping the gun by dropping it 2 cents.” view article

The Palestine Independent School District school board held a special meeting Monday and Tuesday night to interview possible board candidates. A position on the board opened after the resignation of Dana Staples earlier this month. The board choose not to take action on the interviews during the closed session. After reconvening into open session, board members voted on the approval of the new student code of conduct for the 2015-2016 school year. According to Superintendent Jason Marshall, most of the changes made to the code were to appease decisions made in the legislative session. view article

Frisco Independent School District School Board President Anne McCausland has earned the Master Trustee designation by completing Leadership TASB, a Texas Association of School Boards program. view article

Longview ISD officials are evaluating bids to demolish the vacant T.G. Field Auditorium in downtown. Trustees voted 4-3 in January not to sell the auditorium for $200,000, despite district Assistant Superintendent Lynn Marshall saying he didn't see the district having a use for the property. view article

The Amarillo City Council on Tuesday bid adieu to Councilman Jim Simms and named former two-term city commissioner and Amarillo businessman Ron Boyd to fill Simms’ unexpired term. view article

Highland Park ISD has suspended seven titles from the curriculum after a wave of criticism surrounding some content. view article