Lufkin ISD says it is investigating after an unloaded gun was brought to the Lufkin Middle School campus earlier in September. The district says it received a report Monday and has confirmed that more than one student witnessed a gun on the middle school campus on Sept. 12. The district, in a statement, said it was working on recommending further measures to enhance campus security and reminded students, parents and guardians that failing to report incidents was “unacceptable.” view article

Health experts hope data out of Texas will raise awareness about a type of infection commonly spread through kissing bugs.  Researchers with Texas A&M University and the Texas Department of State Health Services analyzed state health data and found it supports classifying Chagas Disease as endemic in the U.S., meaning consistently present in a community like the common cold and strains of influenza.  The U.S. doesn't have standardized surveillance of Chagas, and that can make its presence difficult to study. view article

TEXARKANA, Texas -- Liberty-Eylau Independent School District held a regular school board meeting Thursday and made decisions regarding school security officers and financial decisions for the district.  Superintendent Jeff Wright asked the board to approve the continued use of armed security officers on LEISD campuses, referring to a recently enacted statute. view article

The White House clarified its change to H-1B visas after workers, companies and foreign governments scrambled to respond to its latest immigration crackdown.  The surprise order from the Trump administration imposing a new $100,000 fee on some visas set off a day of frantic travel as workers, companies and foreign governments scrambled to respond to Washington's latest immigration crackdown.  By the time the White House clarified that existing holders of the H-1B visas for skilled workers were not affected, the chaos had already been sewn: U.S. allies expressed concern and their nationals abandoned holidays, business trips and plans to see their families as they raced back to America before the new rules took effect Sunday. view article

lease explore to learn more about kissing bugs, the parasite they transmit, and how you can submit your insects and observations to our research program. view article

Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza recently announced that his office secured a hate crime conviction for Michael Boone. Timeline: On August 11, 2023, the Austin Independent School District’s Police Department investigated a terroristic threat sent to the Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees via their "Let’s Talk" App prior to the Board of Trustees' participation in the Austin Pride Parade on August 12, 2023. view article

A youth baseball game turned terrifying Sunday morning when a 27-year-old coach was shot in the shoulder by a stray bullet, reportedly fired from nearby recreational gunfire. The coach was airlifted from the scene in front of stunned families and players at TheRac Baseball complex in Katy. view article

A youth baseball game turned terrifying Sunday morning when a 27-year-old coach was shot in the shoulder by a stray bullet, reportedly fired from nearby recreational gunfire. The coach was airlifted from the scene in front of stunned families and players at TheRac Baseball complex in Katy. view article

RIO GRANDE CITY — Jake Margo Jr. stood in the triage room at Starr County Memorial Hospital explaining why a person with persistent fever who could be treated with over-the-counter medication didn’t need to be admitted to the emergency room.  “We’re going to take care of the sickest patients first,” Margo, a family medicine physician, said.  It’s not like there was space on that June afternoon anyway. A small monitor on the wall pulsed with the vitals of current patients, who filled the ER. An ambulance idled outside in the South Texas heat with a patient waiting for a bed to open up. “Everybody shows up here,” Margo said. “When you’re overwhelmed and you’re overrun, there’s only so much you can do.” view article

Riviera Independent School District was briefly placed on lockdown Wednesday after a report that a student might have had a firearm on campus. District officials said staff immediately followed safety protocols and contacted law enforcement after receiving the report. Officers and school staff searched the student, their belongings, and the entire district. No weapon was found. view article

For more than two decades, Joe Nino has walked the halls of Alice Independent School District with one goal in mind: keeping the school safe. As the district's chief security guard and longest-serving member of the security team, Nino has dedicated 24 years to protecting students and staff. An Alice graduate himself, he said serving and protecting has been his calling. view article

All students are safe and making their way to school after a Gladewater ISD bus was involved in a wreck with an 18-wheeler Friday morning. Officials said the crash happened on U.S. Highway 271 near County Road 3104 in the Gladewater area. view article

The city of Austin will not renew its contracts with Urban Alchemy, a Bay Area homeless services nonprofit that operates two downtown emergency shelters, when the current agreements expire Sept. 30.  Austin’s Homeless Strategy Officer David Gray wrote in a memo to City Council that the decision came after the nonprofit “identified staff who improperly, and without permission, misrepresented” data around when people were exiting the shelters. The data has since been corrected, Gray wrote in the memo. view article

A second Texas higher education student is no longer enrolled after controversial remarks about Charlie Kirk's death and political pressure from Gov. Greg Abbott to punish those who "celebrate" his assassination.  Texas State University President Kelly Damphousse announced Tuesday night that a student in a viral video shared by Abbott who was seen pantomiming Kirk's death and cursing the conservative activist is no longer enrolled at the university, and condemned the actions. view article

According to the Huntington ISD superintendent, a student was taken into custody by school district officers on Monday. The incident, according to Dr. Carolyn Fiaschetti, happened around 10:30 a.m. The HISD police department was notified of a possible weapon located in a student vehicle in the PRIDE alternative campus parking lot. view article

A former behavioral specialist for Brownsboro ISD has pleaded guilty to two charges of injuring a child. Kyle Lee Rocha, 40, of Chandler, entered open guilty pleas in court Monday. He has been accused of injuring a 7-year-old by knocking over the student’s desk in class while he was leaning it back. Rocha could face 2-10 years for each charge, but the defense has said there are no offers on the table yet. A judge is set to decide Rocha’s sentence on Dec. 9, following a pre-sentence investigation and report. view article

Matthew Childress arrived at Matt’s El Rancho, an Austin restaurant, on Sept. 4 with mixed feelings of anticipation and grief. He greeted the other parents with hugs.  This group had largely been strangers two months earlier, before they learned that their children at Camp Mystic were missing after a massive flash flood, before many waited all night for answers about whether search crews had found any kids alive, before parents had to do the unimaginable and identify their child’s body.  Now, in their torturous sadness, they shared a bond. Over the past several weeks, these parents had pushed their ideas for summer camp reforms through the state Legislature with remarkable speed.  The moms and dads were gathering in Austin from Beaumont, Dallas, Bellville and other Texas cities. One family came from Alabama. The next day, they expected the Texas governor to sign the bills that they championed.   The changes would require kids’ camps to move overnight cabins out of floodplains, to follow weather warnings with radios and install alert systems, and to train staff on emergency plans including where to move children to higher ground if needed. view article

AUSTIN (KXAN) — More than half of Texas’ counties have MMR vaccination rates among kindergartners below the threshold for what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says is needed for herd immunity.  The CDC says most people are protected from measles, mumps and rubella through herd immunity, also known as community immunity, when more than 95% of people in that community are vaccinated.  As of the 2024-25 school year, kindergarten students in 139 counties did not meet that threshold — 55% of the state’s counties — according to Texas Department of State Health Services data collected and analyzed by NBC News in partnership with researchers at Staford University  Just a decade ago, only 42 counties were below the threshold. view article

SAN JUAN, Texas – From Monday, July 25, to Saturday, July 30, the Texas Health and Human Services will carry out Operation Border Health/Preparedness (OBHP). OBHP is a program that sets up sites around the Rio Grande Valley, offering residents free health services. Services include general physician services, immunizations, screenings, sport physicals, dental services, vision services, and more. Although assisting the public in maintaining their health is a goal of OBHP, the underlying purpose is to assist the community in preparing for disasters. State Sen. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen, said Operation Border Health Preparedness allows state, local, and nonprofit entities to practice setting up and operating health clinics that may be needed in the case of a public health emergency, while providing free care to the community. He said services include medical exams, immunizations for children and adults, sports physicals for students, health and diabetes screenings, and dental and vision exams. “Operation Border Health Preparedness is a great example of a smart policy that not only ensures we are prepared for future public health crises, but also provides an immediate public benefit in the process,” Hinojosa said. view article

Police officials and law enforcement experts say there’s no guarantee that officers will follow their training and confront a shooter — no matter how much training they have.  In the weeks since officers in Uvalde waited more than an hour to confront a gunman who killed 19 children and two adults at an elementary school, police departments across the state have asked themselves a crucial question: If they faced a similar situation, would they be able to quickly stop the gunman?  The images of parents and students pleading with officers to take action at Robb Elementary School on May 24 before a tactical team of federal agents finally breached a classroom and fatally shot the 18-year-old gunman deeply disturbed Marfa police Chief Estevan Marquez. view article

An increase in COVID-19 cases among children in El Paso is resulting in more absences at some schools. "Last week my child had a light cough so we decided not to take her to school to not expose the other children to her cough," said El Paso ISD parent Guerrero Garcia. view article

Some Brenham ISD parents are concerned about the safety of their children aboard school buses, while the district struggles to find people to drive them. Overcrowding and longer run times for some buses has parents worried and debating whether their children should be using school transportation. One parent, Cassi Harrison, has pulled her three children off after she says her daughter had to sit on the floor of her elementary school bus, which had students from two bus routes. Harrison says the safety of the children needs to be addressed. view article

Saying positive cases of COVID-19 are climbing to "very high rates" in the district, the Richardson ISD says they are once again temporarily implementing a mask requirement for everyone inside K-12 schools. In a letter to parents, the district said active cases of COVID-19 have increased from 49 on Dec. 7 to 1,089 on Jan. 6, an increase of more than 2100%. The previous pandemic-high number of positive cases in RISD was 367 on Sept. 3. view article

They say participation is strictly voluntary, but the Fort Worth Independent School District is offering a one-time $500 incentive to employees who get fully vaccinated against COVID. Administrators say the money is an ‘effort to provide safe and healthy environments for students, staff and visitors’. 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

Houston ISD students and employees who refuse to wear masks when the school year begins could face discipline and be forced to temporarily learn online under new guidelines released by the district. With exceptions and reasonable accommodations made for people with a “documented medical disability,” the district’s updated back-to-school plan, released Friday evening, says that those who refuse to comply with the mask mandate will face consequences. 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

The largest school district in the San Antonio area said Wednesday they will not be enforcing a mask mandate, “for now,” despite a county-wide requirement issued Tuesday that students and teachers wear masks in public schools. A Northside Independent School District spokesperson told KSAT that the district will continue to “strongly encourage the use of facemasks by students, staff, and visitors to district facilities and events” but stopped short of requiring them. Meanwhile, they will “closely monitor the changing guidelines and directives” and alert the public of any change to the policy before the district’s start date on Aug. 23, the spokesperson said. view article

Round Rock ISD parents are divided on COVID-19 masking protocol, with some fighting to keep mask rules in place for their schools and others wanting it to be a choice. The school district's board of trustees recently considered relaxing the mask requirement, but voted to keep the rules in place through the end of the calendar year. view article

All Fort Worth ISD employees will soon be offered a COVID-19 vaccine. Superintendent Kent Scribner sent the information to employees on Thursday. The email states that all employees, including part-time and substitute workers, will be invited to sign up for the vaccine through the school district. view article

During and after a Nov. 9 meeting, Friendswood ISD board members and parents discussed the merits and challenges of structural changes to the district’s virtual learning program. Guidance from the Texas Education Agency released Nov. 5 gave the district significantly more options when it comes to virtual learners, officials said. But that guidance continues to change. view article

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Mackenzie Middle School has confirmed the first case of COVID-19 at the school. Mackenzie Middle School release a statement to parents confirming the case of COVID-19 on August 26, 2020. view article

School districts across the Brazos Valley will be heading back to school in the next few weeks but many are dealing with new protocols as the pandemic continues into the new school year. One area that many districts are dealing with is extracurricular activities. KBTX spoke to Bryan ISD’s Fine Arts Director, Patrick Corbett about how the district’s protocols are adjusting to fit the needs and safety for those who choose to participate. view article

The union for Austin Independent School District employees is asking the district and the state not to send employees back to school buildings in August. Union members say it is unsafe for employees and children to be in classes together. During an online news conference Wednesday, Education Austin President Ken Zarifis said the union is asking AISD to commit to online learning only for the first nine weeks of the semester, while monitoring Covid-19 cases in the city. He also asked that increased pay for employees like cafeteria workers and other support staff continue. view article