For anyone working in public schools, the category of “things I didn’t sign up for” seems to be expanding rapidly. It is increasingly routine, for example, to receive a subpoena for either testimony or documents in conjunction with your work as an educator. While no one would recommend that you ignore a subpoena, there are rules that must be followed by anyone seeking to issue and serve a subpoena. School staff are often unaware of these rules and can inadvertently make it easier to be subpoenaed, which can create a distraction from school-related duties and place school staff in the middle of legal disputes having nothing to do with them. More problematic is how frequently districts are asked to produce student or employee records via subpoena. If the subpoena is not properly served under the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, this can impact a district’s ability to lawfully produce otherwise protected records.

A Cleveland ISD student has been arrested and expelled for reportedly posting a school shooting threat on social media. The district said it was made aware of a school shooting threat made to Cleveland Middle School on Monday morning. Investigators quickly determined that a Cleveland Middle School student made the threat, and law enforcement arrested the student. view article

Arlington police have confirmed that no criminal charges will be filed after an employee at Goodman Elementary School was accused of tying students up with strings and putting tape over their mouths. The Arlington Independent School District said that on Friday, Sept. 6, it learned of the allegations and "immediately began an investigation and placed the employee on administrative leave." view article

When, last month, former teacher and coach Taureaus Alvaro Maxwell was sentenced to prison for sexual misconduct with three students, it was not the end of the matter for Atlanta ISD. view article

A longtime administrator with the Gonzales Independent School District is accused of using district resources to print flyers for a school board candidate, state records obtained by KSAT Investigates show. The actions of Wanda Fryer were probed by the Texas Attorney General’s Law Enforcement Division beginning in April, at the request of the Gonzales ISD Police Department, records confirm. view article

Former Uvalde ISD police chief, Pete Arredondo, is pushing to have his indictment, encompassing ten counts of child endangerment and abandonment, dismissed. In a bold defense move, Arredondo\’s legal team is challenging the basis of the charges, asserting that school districts and their employees are not obligated to shield students from dangers posed by third parties. The motion further contends that Arredondo\’s actions were within the scope of his official responsibilities. view article

The Austin Independent School District must create a $4 million fund for hundreds of students it failed to evaluate for special education services within state and federal timelines, according to nonprofit Disability Rights Texas, or DRTx. view article

Christina Williams was arrested August 5th and charged with possession of a controlled substance and unlawful carrying of a weapon. The Snyder Independent School District issued the following statement: view article

Apalachee High School shooting suspect Colt Gray appeared in Barrow County Superior Court on Friday following this week’s mass shooting. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation initially said that Gray had been "charged with 4 counts of felony murder in connection to the shooting" at Apalachee High School in Barrow County. view article

Austin ISD settles lawsuit over delayed special ed evaluations, creates fund for affected students    A federal court signed off on a settlement Wednesday between Disability Rights Texas and Austin ISD over its backlog of special education evaluations. The settlement requires the district to establish a fund to help cover the cost of services for students who were affected by the delayed evaluations.  Disability Rights Texas Supervising Attorney Kym Davis Rogers said in a statement the group was pleased to reach the agreement on behalf of Austin ISD students.  “Most importantly, AISD has committed to the timely evaluation of students with disabilities and established a $4 million dollar fund to provide compensatory education to students whose evaluations were delayed,” she said.  K  nneth M. Walker II, general counsel for Austin ISD, said in a statement to KUT that students who are eligible for assistance under the deal must meet certain criteria. For one thing, they have to be currently enrolled i  the district. They also have to have experienced a more than 20-day delay to their evaluation between March 1, 2020, and the end of the 2024-25 school year.  When the lawsuit was filed in 2021, Disability Rights Texas said at least 800 students had not received an initial evaluation within the timeframe required by state and federal law. Evaluations, which determine whether a student has a disability, are the first step in the process of getting them any services or support they need. Some Austin ISD families had waited as long as a year for their children to be evaluated. view article

Georgia school mass shooting suspect Colt Gray has arrived at the Barrow County Courthouse in Georgia for his arraignment. Gray, 14, will face a judge this morning after being accused of opening fire on staff and students at Apalachee High School in Winder with an AR-style rifle, resulting in the deaths of two 14-year-old pupils and two teachers. view article

Instead of just being a time of excitement and anticipation, the return to the classroom this August was another reminder of the legal cases centered on sexual abuse that have embroiled the Lorena Independent School District and its community for more than three years. Since summer 2021, headlines about Lorena have focused on a scandal involving a former substitute teacher at Lorena Primary School who sexually abused two pre-kindergarten students. Nicolas Crenshaw, 29, was sentenced to 40 years in prison in May 2023. view article

A union leader and HISD teacher is back in the classroom this week after being placed on administrative leave for what the district called "inappropriate conduct" back in March. Houston Education Association President and 2nd Grade teacher, Michelle Williams, says she feels vindicated after the district accused the teacher of posting on social media during work hours. view article

Hawkins ISD Superintendent Susan Morton was arrested for driving while intoxicated in La Marque, Texas on Aug. 23. Morton was arrested by the La Marque Police Department after a “minor accident” which happened in the 2400 block of Gulf Freeway at around 7:49 p.m. in La Marque. According to a La Marque PD arrest report, there were three vehicles involved in the crash a 2005 Ford Explorer, a 2018 Kia Forte and Morton’s 2023 Ford F-150. view article

Some Leander ISD parents are frustrated after the district exposed the medical records of a number of students. And it isn't the first time it’s happened. Leander ISD parent Jeremy Gryder was told by his middle schooler that during lunch on Tuesday, the vice principal of Danielson Middle School put up a list on a projector screen with the names of about 30 students who hadn't received all their vaccinations. view article

A Kress ISD employee is under investigation for improper conduct involving a student. Kress ISD Superintendent Leah Zeigler addressed the incident in a press release. view article

The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office reports a Jacksonville teen has been arrested for making a threat against a school campus. On Tuesday, New Summerfield ISD notified law enforcement of a possible threat against one of their campuses. After an investigation, law enforcement arrested a 15-year-old Jacksonville boy for making a terroristic threat. The Cherokee County Sheriff’s office confirmed the teen was not a student of New Summerfield ISD. view article

Silsbee Independent School District has placed an employee on administrative leave while it investigates the staff member's actions. view article

Southlake's Carroll ISD is fighting with the Biden administration again — and the district's LGBTQ+ students are caught in the middle. Why it matters: The affluent Tarrant County district has for years been at the center of school culture wars. view article

A staff member with the Silsbee Independent School District is on leave while the district investigates an "incident." The staff member, who was not identified by name or job title, is on administrative leave while the incident is investigated, according to statement to parents released by the district on Monday. view article

A Pearland student says he was singled out and punished for a vape that he didn’t even have. The family not only says they have proof their son is innocent, but also say the school’s explanation for punishing him just isn’t adding up. Rodney Bonham Jr. is a senior and star football player at Glenda Dawson High School in Pearland. He says he stays out of trouble and focuses on maintaining his 3.6 GPA, but now he’s been placed in in-school suspension and will soon be temporarily transferred to an alternative school — over a THC vape he claims he never had. view article

Hardin Independent School District (Hardin ISD) recently received information indicating that one of its employees is alleged to have engaged in inappropriate behavior with a student from another school district. Upon learning of these allegations, Hardin ISD took action, suspending the employee in question pending the outcome of an investigation. view article

Arlington Heights High School, in Fort Worth ISD, sent out an email on Monday letting families know a weapon was found on campus. The email from the Principal of the school stated that Fort Worth Police conducted a search of a student following reports of suspicious activity. Police found a weapon in the student's possession and the individual was immediately arrested. The email did not specify what weapon was found. view article

A teacher for a Palestine school bonded out of jail Sunday after being accused of animal cruelty. Emily Marie Benner, 25, of Oakwood, was arrested Sunday by Westwood ISD PD for cruelty to non-livestock animals after what the school called a “deeply troubling” classroom incident on Friday. view article

Last Thursday, Austin ISD's board voted to approve the settlement, though neither the district nor Disability Rights Texas have released additional details. view article

In 2004, a public junior college in North Texas abandoned plans to lease some of its land to a religious organization for $1 a month after the state attorney general warned that the effort could violate the law. Nearly two decades later, the college went further. After publicly posting only that Weatherford College’s board would meet to discuss property, members emerged from behind closed doors in November 2022 and voted unanimously to give a 38-acre property to Community Christian School. The property was valued at more than $2 million, according to the county’s appraisal district. view article

A Round Rock Independent School teacher was arrested and accused of indecency with a child and child pornography, according to an affidavit of probable cause from the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office. Court records said the victim reached out to the Texas Department of Public Safety Criminal Investigation Division in June about the incidents. view article

The Abilene Police Department arrested Lawrence Brandt Grigg, a former employee with Abilene ISD, Wednesday on suspicion of engaging in an improper relationship between an educator and a student. Grigg, 53, was being held Friday in the Taylor County Jail on a $1 million bond, according to jail records. view article

Two El Paso Independent School District police officers were arrested and charged with official oppression and tampering with evidence and a dispatcher was arrested and charged with breach of computer security after trying to impose false criminal charges on a fellow police officer co-worker and trying to get the police chief fired. view article

Cell phone video taken on a Brenham school bus and obtained by KBTX last week shows what appears to be an adult boarding the stopped bus and physically assaulting a student. In a statement shared with parents last week, Brenham ISD said, “We want to inform you about an incident that occurred today, August 19, 2024, at approximately 4:45 PM involving Bus Route 13. A parent forcibly entered the bus to address a student. This incident was immediately reported to the authorities, and the parents of the student involved have been contacted.” view article

An Abilene ISD music instructor is accused of having an improper relationship with a student. Lawrence Grigg, 54, was taken into custody Wednesday on a warrant for Improper Relationship Between Educator and Student in connection to an investigation that began in July. A press release states police began investigating Grigg after receiving notification from Abilene ISD that he may possibly be engaged in an improper relationship with a student. view article

The Keller ISD school board of trustees unanimously approved 13 school policy changes during a meeting Thursday evening. Among the policy changes is a revision that would require teachers to use pronouns consistent with the biological sex listed on a student's birth certificate. view article

A former public school official is accused of stealing thousands of dollars from the Austin Independent School District for nearly a year. A grand jury on Friday indicted Lynn Brennan, 45, who used to be AISD’s Executive Director of Compensation and Benefits, with stealing between $30,000 and $150,000 from the district using gift cards. Austin ISD and police haven’t specified the exact amount believed to be stolen. view article

A former employee of the Yantis ISD has pleaded guilty in Wood County to Improper Relationship Between an Educator and a Student. Christopher McIntosh of Sulphur Springs was sentenced to 10 years probation and 240 hours of community service. He was no longer an employee of the school district. view article

A Midland Independent School District Police Sergeant and K9 Officer, Dakota Lindsey, was arrested on Tuesday after a lengthy investigation by the Texas Rangers. According to an arrest affidavit obtained by NewsWest 9, the Texas Ranger on the case, Cody Allen, interviewed a husband and a wife who made fake social media accounts and posted a photo of Lindsey in a MISD Police uniform with their daughter. The affidavit states that the wife told Officer Allen that she was claiming Lindsey was having an affair with their daughter. view article