COLUMBUS, Texas (KTRK) --  Columbus ISD is closed today after the district became aware of a threat on social media, school officials say.   A message posted on the district's website says that the administration received word about the threat just before midnight.   "Columbus ISD takes the safety of our students and employees very seriously and it is our top priority.  view article

A social initiative that found its roots in a deadly school shooting in Connecticut has kicked off at schools in the Tyler school district. HELLO stems from the Sandy Hook Promise Program, which was started by a group of parents who got together to help end school violence. HELLO is an acronym, where all of the letters stand for a word, and each word is also a theme for the week. view article

Dallas ISD students and faculty are moving forward after two cases of tuberculosis were found at W.T. White High School. Dallas County Health and Human Services reported the disease in two brothers who most likely caught it from a relative that used to live with them, and said the patients have been receiving medical treatment for almost three months. view article

When friends would ask Madisyn Donovan if she was okay, she would insist she was fine, but internally, she felt like she was at the bottom of a 10-foot pit and couldn’t escape.  Donovan, then a freshman at South San High School, had just enrolled in the early college program and was feeling more than the typical academic pressure of transitioning from middle school to college classes. view article

Columbus ISD is closed today after the district became aware of a threat on social media, school officials say. A message posted on the district's website says that the administration received word about the threat just before midnight. view article

A state agency has rejected an application from a rural Virginia school district that voted to arm teachers and other employees as protection against a school shooting. The Washington Post reports that the Department of Criminal Justice Services turned down Lee County Superintendent Brian Austin's application to register as an armed special conservator of the peace. The school district had hoped the designation would allow school employees to carry guns in schools. view article

La Joya Independent School District is turning to a new app to protect its students from bullies. "Anonymous Alerts" is a mobile anti-bullying and safety app that allows students to instantly report safety concerns to school officials. view article

A 5-year-old California girl can keep bringing a cannabis-based drug to school—used for emergency treatment of a rare form of epilepsy—a judge ruled Friday. The judge sided with the family of Brooke Adams, who attends kindergarten in Santa Rosa. The Rincon Valley Union School District had sought to ban the ointment from the school because it contains the active ingredient in marijuana. view article

School is a place where children are supposed to be learning, preparing for their futures, and making friendships that last a lifetime. But in this time of school shootings and violence, extra protection is needed for our most precious and most vulnerable. "You have a presence at the campus. And it's all about presence," said Shane Strubhart, Public Relations Director for Harlingen CISD. This week, Harlingen CISD parents received notices in the mail detailing a new partnership between the school district and the Texas Department of Public Safety. DPS officers will now be able to visit and be stationed at all 30 of the district's schools. view article

At the start of the school year, Brazos County Crime Stoppers unveiled a new anonymous reporting app for each district in the county. So far, Bryan ISD officials say the P3 campus app, which they call “B-Safe”, has already led to some productive investigations. view article

Last year’s flu and flu-related pneumonia killed nearly 10,000 Texans, according to state health officials, including 2,150 in the Houston area. It started early and escalated quickly, epidemiologists say — and the vaccine in last year’s flu shots just wasn’t that effective. view article

Texas City ISD officials say there will be an extra police presence Friday at Texas City High School after a potential threat. Officials say the potential threat was for Friday, and it was discovered Thursday on a bathroom wall. District officials took writing samples of students who initially saw and shared a picture of the threat, but they say none of those samples appear to match the handwriting of the threat. view article

The Bryan school district will implement a new policy, starting tonight, that will require any student not enrolled at a high school in the district to be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Posted on the district's athletics website and sent out to parents in an email, the policy states, "Any student that is not in a Bryan ISD high school will not be allowed into Merrill Green Stadium without a parent or guardian." view article

Extra officers will be at Texas City High School today after they received a tip of a threat scribbled on a bathroom wall. Texas City ISD Superintendent Dr. Rodney Cavness informed parents on Thursday regarding the tip and an investigation into the threat planned for today. While the district didn't disclose specific details of the threat, it mentioned that the school interviewed and analyzed handwriting samples of multiple students as part of the investigation. view article

A man has been charged with making a terroristic threat against a public place and public servant after threatening to kill everyone at an Edgewood ISD elementary school around noon on Tuesday. According to the arrest affidavit, the man told the school’s social worker during a parent-student conference that he didn’t give a “f---” what the school said, and that “everyone dies, life goes on. I’m f---ing sad too. I don’t need a shrink to tell me you’re crazy. I don’t care what anyone says.” view article

Officials with Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City Independent School Districts are warning parents after a man attempted to lure a child into his vehicle this morning at a bus stop in Universal City. The student, who attends Wilder Intermediate School, was waiting for a bus when a man approached the student and tried to persuade the child to get in the vehicle with him. view article

The Copperas Cove Independent School District is getting ready for flu season. view article

In light of school shootings in Parkland, Florida and Santa Fe, Texas, earlier this year, local school districts and state officials are planning initiatives to improve school safety and security. For Montgomery ISD Chief of Police Marlon Runnels, the school shooting at Santa Fe High School in May was somewhat of a gut check to the school district police department. view article

Danbury ISD schools are poised to get a police department of their own for the first time in the district’s history. view article

Ruben Esquivel, 33, has been arrested after Edgewood ISD police say that he threatened to kill employees at a school on Tuesday. According to an arrest affidavit, Esquivel was at Gardendale Elementary on the west-side when he began yelling and screaming at an employee, who was so scared for her safety that she didn’t want to pick up the phone and call police because she was afraid that the suspect would escalate his violent threats. view article

Parents plan to attend the Galveston Independent School District board meeting Wednesday night to ask for added security measures at schools. On Tuesday, Ball Hall School was placed on a brief lockdown after a student was accused of bringing an unloaded handgun to campus. “Something needs to be done and these people need to open their eyes and do something now," said Debbie Gast who has a grandson who attends Ball High School. view article

A $2.1 million project to upgrade cameras and security access points at school campuses across Angleton ISD could begin as early as next month. The school district’s Board of Trustees voted to approve the expenditure during its meeting Tuesday, giving Superintendent Phil Edwards the go-ahead to execute a contract for the work with Honeywell. Representatives from the company told board members the work will take about nine months to complete, and installation could begin Oct. 1. view article

A recently opened law enforcement substation at Chireno ISD schools could be emulated in other county school districts, Nacogdoches County officials say. view article

Parents plan to attend the Galveston Independent School District board meeting Wednesday night to ask for added security measures at schools. On Tuesday, Ball Hall School was placed on a brief lockdown after a student was accused of bringing an unloaded handgun to campus. “Something needs to be done and these people need to open their eyes and do something now," said Debbie Gast who has a grandson who attends Ball High School. view article

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced he would donate up to 10 metal detectors to the Santa Fe Independent School District in response to the shooting that left eight students and two teachers dead. As much as this seems like a possible solution to gun violence, it’s not. In fact it’s worse, providing a false sense of security as children return to school. Ten metal detectors don’t add up to less gun violence. Do the math. Assume each high school and middle school will need three metal detectors, and each elementary school will need two.  view article

AUSTIN — A peaceful protest in downtown Dallas over the police shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile turned violent in July 2016, when a gunman took the lives of five police officers.  At the time, Dallas Sen. Royce West called Dallas “ground zero for change” and said he wanted to address the tension between law enforcement and the minority community. The result is a law the Legislature passed last year to require that Texas students, drivers and law enforcement be taught how to behave during traffic stops. view article

It seems to be getting more common to hear about threats being made towards school districts. Unfortunately, it's also getting more common to hear about people following through on those threats. But, it doesn't really resonate with us until it hits close to home. Well, one of those times just happened. Last night, around 11:00, West Sabine ISD posted this on their Facebook page: view article

After local schools received a wave of hoax threats in the aftermath of the Parkland, Florida school shooting, the FBI Houston Division is launching an awareness campaign about the consequences of using social medial to send phony threats. At a press conference Tuesday, Special Agent in Charge Perrye Turner announced the launch of #ThinkBeforeYouPost alongside local law enforcement agencies and various school district police chiefs. view article

Denton ISD saw delayed pushback last week to its newest policy that would allow former law enforcement officers to carry guns on campus, prompting a Denton City Council member to call for more transparency. Officials first discussed the proposed policy at an Aug. 14 board meeting and unanimously approved it on Sept. 11. Under the policy, district employees who have current certifications from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement and at least five years of experience in law enforcement could be approved to carry weapons on campus. view article

A student at Clear Falls High School is facing criminal charges after allegedly making a threat on Snapchat.  view article

There was friction between the Santa Fe ISD school board and parents in the audience Monday night. Some of the parents wore shirts with a big "F" on the front, saying that is the grade they give the district's handling of school safety after the May 18 shooting at Santa Fe High School. The parents claim protecting students hasn't been a priority, going back even before the massacre that claimed the lives of 10 people and injured 13 more. view article

This school year, the Abilene Independent School District is using an app called CrisisGo to help keep students and staff members safe during school hours. Dan Cottner, AISD Safety and Security Coordinator, said that the app allows teachers to alert every other teacher at the school, along with staff members, local law enforcement and first responders all at once. view article

The Food and Drug Administration announced last week it is considering a ban on flavored e-cigarettes in an effort to curb underage use of the product. Alexandra Loukas, principal investigator of UT’s Tobacco Research and Evaluation Team, said the ban would be effective at cutting down use by young people. The most common flavored e-cigarettes on the market are those made by Juul Labs, according to marketing analytics company Nielsen. Unflavored e-cigarettes would not be included under the possible ban. view article

In the wake of school shootings nationwide, Central Texas school districts are focused on ensuring safety this school year. Most are reviewing their security procedures; some are hiring more safety personnel and some are adding new technology like security vestibules that allow visitors to be screened. One district — Moody — plans to arm its staff members. view article

September is National Suicide Prevention Month and while anyone could experience thoughts of suicide, statistics show that youth have a high risk of experiencing depression and suicidal thoughts. According to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline website, suicide is the second-leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 10 to 24. With youth at risk for suicide, many school districts label suicide prevention as a top priority and have taken several steps to focus on student health. view article