Commissioners appear to have turned a corner after weeks of citizen protests.  Hood County commissioners unanimously voted Tuesday to postpone action on two data center projects in order to receive and review information. They also prohibited County Judge Ron Massingill from signing on to a solar project without a concept plan.   Citizens who showed up at the March 24 meeting again expressed concerns about the effects of these projects on the local environment, including draining precious water resources, as well as the potential for bad actors to access critical infrastructure through components made in hostile nation view article

A Floridian who briefly led one of the nation’s largest school districts will captain Fort Worth ISD while it is under state control. Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath appointed longtime Florida educator Peter B. Licata as FWISD’s new leader. Licata, who served as Broward County Public Schools superintendent for less than a year, is now charged with driving rapid academic gains for FWISD’s nearly 68,000 students. view article

Texas’ Republican-backed book banning law, Senate Bill 13, is rearing its head in the San Antonio suburb of New Braunfels this month as the school district there pulled more than 1,500 titles from school library shelves. Some of those books subjected to New Braunfels ISD’s ban include memoirs by former President Barack Obama and Texas actor Matthew McConaughey along with classic works by William Shakespeare. view article

Voters will decide who will fill three school board trustee spots on May 2.  Screenshots of social media posts from the accounts of David Greene, a Katy Independent School District school board candidate, express support for the LGBT ideology, with one being sexually explicit. view article

Fort Bend Independent School District’s board of trustees approved a plan on March 9 to close or consolidate seven elementary schools as it tackles an expected budget deficit of $56.4 million — driven by recent enrollment declines — for the 2026-27 school year. view article

A White Oak ISD committee voted 4-1 to move “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” from library circulation, citing concerns over student-appropriate content. view article

Fort Bend ISD has decided to close seven elementary schools that have angered several parents and families. In Monday’s FBISD board of trustees meeting, the board voted 4-3 to decide to close the schools as the district deals with declining enrollment and cutting its $26 million budget. view article

A committee of White Oak ISD school faculty members and parents voted 4-1 during a Monday meeting to reclassify a library book, saying it is vulgar and sexually explicit. Following a meeting of the White Oak ISD Library Materials Challenge Committee, a book titled “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky will be moved from the school library to the public section of the library, making it unavailable to students during the school day. view article

Families in Pflugerville ISD are getting their chance to weigh in about passible school closures. view article

The Pflugerville Independent School District (PfISD) is considering plans to close and rezone some of its campuses in 2027 to align resources amid enrollment and budget concerns. On Thursday, the district presented its district optimization draft scenarios during its Board of Trustees meeting. District leaders said no decisions have been made regarding the scenarios, and are encouraging community members to weigh in on the proposed plans. view article

Northside Independent School District is facing a $35 million budget deficit. But, that’s down significantly from when it once neared $108 million. The school board has addressed roughly $70 million worth of debt without school closures, and it’s aiming to balance the books next year. Northside ISD is the largest school district in the San Antonio area, with roughly 98,000 students, towering over North East ISD, San Antonio ISD and Judson ISD. view article

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Texas declined Thursday to take over the Wichita Falls school district, which had been at risk of receiving the state’s most severe form of intervention over years of academic underperformance. Kirby Middle School triggered the potential of a takeover. Under the state’s school accountability system, five consecutive years of unacceptable ratings at a single school allows the Texas Education Agency to replace a district’s locally elected school board with a state-selected board of managers or order the closure of the struggling campus. view article

Republican primary voters re-elected the county judge and two commissioners who support regulating development. view article

The Lubbock ISD Board of Trustees voted unanimously Thursday against adopting a period of prayer or designating a time for students to read religious texts during the school day. New state legislation gives school districts the option to designate a specific time during the day for religious observation. The board cited the First Amendment in its decision and agreed that students and staff already have the ability to observe religion during the school day, as long as it does not disrupt class. view article

Huntington ISD trustees voted Monday to take no action on a Senate Bill 11 resolution that would have created a daily period of prayer and reading of the Bible or other religious texts on each campus, while also approving the 2026-27 school calendar and several state-required policy items. view article

A new law requiring all public school districts to vote on whether they will permit prayer periods has been rejected by another West Texas school district. view article

Fort Worth ISD rejected a new state law on Tuesday night that allows school districts to establish a time for prayer. The district joins a growing list of school systems, including Grapevine-Colleyville, that have voted against the proposal. Some North Texas districts, including Keller and Aledo, have approved it. view article

The Judson Independent School District school board on Tuesday voted to close three elementary schools during a special meeting. The board voted 5-2 to close Park Village Blended Learning Academy, Ed Franz Leadership Academy and Rolling Meadows Elementary. Other schools considered for closure included Spring Meadows Elementary/Spring Meadows College Prep and Millers Point Elementary. view article

Midway ISD trustees have set a special called meeting to consider the closure of Speegleville Elementary School at the end of the 2025-2026 school year. They will also consider approving new attendance zones for students currently zoned to attend the school next school year. view article

On Monday night, three more Central Texas school districts voted against setting aside time for prayer each day. Boards of trustees in Manor ISD, Hays CISD and San Marcos CISD passed resolutions against dedicating time for prayer. Under a new state law, school boards are required to vote on the issue. It is the result of Senate Bill 11, passed by state lawmakers during the regular legislative session last year. view article

In South Texas public schools, I learned about Robert E. Lee and George Washington and the histories of the United States and Texas. Yet not a single lesson addressed Mexican American history — our Indigenous and African roots or the men and women who shaped this country. It was as if only Anglos made history. 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