Attorney General Ken Paxton issued the following statement directing all Texas Independent School Districts (ISDs) not enjoined by ongoing litigation to display copies of the Ten Commandments once Senate Bill 10 takes effect on September 1, 2025. “From the beginning, the Ten Commandments have been irrevocably intertwined with America’s legal, moral, and historical heritage,” said Attorney General Paxton. “Schools not enjoined by ongoing litigation must abide by S.B. 10 and display the Ten Commandments. The woke radicals seeking to erase our nation’s history will be defeated. I will not back down from defending the virtues and values that built this country.”  view article

During the 89th Regular Legislative Session, HB 6 made a number of changes to Chapter 37 of the Texas Education Code and the content of the 2025-2026 Student Code of Conduct. Many of these changes will likely be welcomed by Texas public schools, such as the ability to have more discretion in the determination of appropriate behavioral consequences for a student found in possession of a VAPE device.

Attorney General Ken Paxton said the investigation is in response to community concerns.   This article has been updated since publication to include a statement from Plano ISD.    Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced a formal investigation into Plano Independent School District after multiple reports of antisemitic incidents and school-sponsored activities perceived as anti-Israel.  view article

The Houston Federation of Teachers is seeking an injunction to prevent HISD from doling out state-funded raises based on performance rather than years of service. The relationship between the union and Superintendent Mike Miles has been fraught since the beginning of the state takeover. view article

A family of a Lockhart ISD student is suing the district after their child was allegedly sexually assaulted by a former volleyball coach, according to court documents obtained by KVUE. The lawsuit claims the district failed to protect the student in connection to sexual assault by former volleyball coach Aaron Aguilar and did not provide a safe learning environment during the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 school years. view article

A Waco High School campus aide was arrested Tuesday on felony grooming charges after school officials learned of his inappropriate messages to a 16-year-old female student. Jody Deshawn Edwards, 34, remains in the McLennan County Jail under $10,000 bond and faces up to 10 years in prison after his arrest on the third-degree felony charge. view article

PFLAG refuses to produce documents for Attorney General Ken Paxton.  An LGBT organization is fighting a demand to produce records regarding illegal gender mutilation procedures on minors and has taken the Texas attorney general to court. After more than a year of litigation filled with delays, a trial court ordered sweeping injunctions against the attorney general in favor of PFLAG.  The Supreme Court of Texas is set to hear this case in October, which may determine the future of the attorney general’s investigative powers. view article

Despite a federal judge’s court order halting display of the Ten Commandments in 11 districts, the rest of the state is still required to follow the new law. view article

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Austin Independent School District said it will not display the Ten Commandments, at least temporarily, after a preliminary injunction was filed by a district judge last week, according to a statement provided by the district to KXAN. view article

An Arp ISD elementary assistant principal and her son were arrested Monday following an investigation by the Arp Police Department. Police said Karla Florence was taken into custody and charged with failure to report and false report to a peace officer. Investigators say she failed to provide truthful information and did not meet her legal duty under Texas law to report knowledge of a felony offense while serving in her role as an educator. view article

Yesterday, a federal judge in San Antonio issued an injunction against the implementation of Senate Bill 10 in select Texas school districts. SB 10 is Texas’s Ten Commandments law, which requires a 16”x20” copy of the religious doctrine to be displayed in every public school classroom in the state. In the ruling, the judge notes that SB 10 “impermissibly takes sides” on religious questions, is “by design, and on its face,” not neutral with respect to religion, and “crosses the line from exposure to coercion.” view article

A Marfa ISD teacher was arrested Aug. 21 on a felony charge of having an improper relationship with a student. According to the Presidio County Sheriff’s Office, 25-year-old Rebecca Ontiveros, was taken into custody at Marfa ISD by the Texas Rangers. She was booked into the Presidio County Jail and released the following day after posting a $75,000 surety bond. Ontiveros was charged with improper relationship between educator and student, a second-degree felony. view article

Maribel Gardea, a local advocate, was arrested at an Edgewood Independent School District board meeting last week but has since had all charges dropped. Gardea was taken into custody after speaking past her allotted time at the podium during a meeting where she was advocating for transparency, safety, and accountability from the district. view article

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A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked 11 public school districts in Texas’ largest metropolitan areas from displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms as required by a new state law set to take effect Sept. 1.  Two days after the conclusion of a court hearing in San Antonio, U.S. Judge Fred Biery ruled that Senate Bill 10 "likely violates both the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment" to the U.S. Constitution.  view article

A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked 11 public school districts in Texas’ largest metropolitan areas from displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms as required by a new state law set to take effect Sept. 1. Two days after the conclusion of a court hearing in San Antonio, U.S. Judge Fred Biery ruled that Senate Bill 10 "likely violates both the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment" to the U.S. Constitution. He added that "even though the Ten Commandments would not be affirmatively taught, the captive audience of students likely would have questions, which teachers would feel compelled to answer." view article

A routine school board meeting in Edgewood turned into a tense confrontation Tuesday night when a mother of two was handcuffed and escorted out of the district conference center after exceeding her speaking time. Maribel Gardea, 42, was addressing the board on student safety when her microphone was cut. The Edgewood ISD board president had announced at the start of the meeting that with 11 people signed up for public comment, each speaker would have two minutes. view article

Video shows the moment Edgewood Independent School District police officers removed a San Antonio woman from a school board meeting Tuesday night in handcuffs. Maribel Gardea was arrested on three charges: criminal trespass, resisting arrest and disrupting a meeting. Now, the nonprofit she represents is calling for action from the Edgewood ISD Board of Trustees. view article

A North Texas high school football player died Wednesday morning after suffering a "medical emergency" at practice two days prior, Lancaster Independent School District officials said. The player, 15-year-old Preston Malone, was a sophomore student at Lancaster Early College High School, according to officials. view article

The Independence School District announced that one of its employees has been placed on administrative leave pending a criminal investigation. ISD did not specify who the employee is or what role they serve in the district. Specific allegations are not known at this time, but the district said it takes the charges seriously and is working with law enforcement. view article

A woman who was escorted out of an Edgewood Independent School District board meeting is facing three charges related to trespassing and disrupting a meeting, records with the Bexar County jail show. Maribel Gardea, 42, was taken out of the meeting in handcuffs on Tuesday evening after speaking past her allotted time during public comments, according to footage from the meeting posted on the district’s YouTube channel. view article

The two-year legal battle over a Barbers Hill ISD student's hair is now over. On July 24, a federal judge dismissed the case, ruling in favor of the district. The case is now closed permanently, preventing Darryl George from filing the same lawsuit in the future. Barbers Hill ISD said the length of George's hair violated the dress code. view article

A civil lawsuit filed in 2023 against Lorena ISD and Lorena Primary School Principal April Jewell will proceed after a federal appeals court rejected efforts to dismiss the case. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday denied a motion to give Jewell and the district qualified immunity — a legal shield that often protects officials from liability in federal civil actions. The unanimous ruling paves the way for the lawsuit to move into the discovery phase. view article

ACLU and the state’s attorneys ended oral arguments Monday after sparring over freedom of religion protections and historical influence of the biblical directives.  A Texas federal judge will decide before Sept. 1 whether to block from taking effect a new state law requiring public schools to display donated posters of the Ten Commandments in classrooms.  Oral arguments in the case, Rabbi Nathan v. Alamo Heights Independent School District, concluded on Monday, several weeks after 16 parents of various religious backgrounds, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and other religious freedom organizations, sued the state over what their lawyers called "catastrophically unconstitutional” legislation. view article

Although the law is set to go into effect Sept. 1, Pleasant Grove ISD leaders decided to post the displays at the start of the school year. view article

The Fifth Circuit denied Lorena Primary School Principal April Jewell’s motion to dismiss, clearing the way for the lawsuit against Jewell and the district to proceed.  An appeals court rejected a Lorena Primary School principal’s claim that she is immune from liability in a civil lawsuit for failing to protect a pre-K student from a teacher’s sexual abuse.  On Friday, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals denied Principal April Jewell’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit on the basis of “qualified immunity.”  Such immunity shields school officials from federal civil liability unless their conduct violates a clearly established constitutional right to an extent that “shocks the conscience.”  The decision is a win for local families seeking justice for a victim identified in court records as “Jane Doe.” view article

ACLU and the state’s attorneys ended oral arguments Monday after sparring over freedom of religion protections and historical influence of the biblical directives.  A Texas federal judge will decide before Sept. 1 whether to block from taking effect a new state law requiring public schools to display donated posters of the Ten Commandments in classrooms.  Oral arguments in the case, Rabbi Nathan v. Alamo Heights Independent School District, concluded on Monday, several weeks after 16 parents of various religious backgrounds, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and other religious freedom organizations, sued the state over what their lawyers called "catastrophically unconstitutional” legislation. view article

The State Senate unanimously approved a House measure to hold school districts accountable for protecting students from sexual predators. view article

Gov. Greg Abbott wants the Supreme Court of Texas to declare Gene Wu’s seat vacant.   The Supreme Court of Texas has announced a briefing schedule in Gov. Greg Abbott’s bid to remove the House Democrat Caucus chairman, Gene Wu of Houston, from the legislature. It combined that with the case brought by Attorney General Ken Paxton against Wu and a dozen other quorum-busting lawmakers.  The Court requires briefing papers to be filed from Wednesday, August 20, through Thursday, Sept. 14. view article

Attorney General Paxton is calling out “Big Pharma” for compromising medical decision-making view article

KERR COUNTY — Lavonda Koons gripped the back of the driver’s seat, watching as the Guadalupe River rose quickly around her stalled school bus. Through the rearview mirror, she saw a van behind them sinking into the floodwaters.  She locked eyes with her husband who was driving the bus. It was still raining and the sky was dim with the early light of dawn. About five car lengths away, they could see dry land. They needed to get the kids to safety.  With water creeping higher, her husband told the children to go. The group stepped out of the bus into the cold, murky flood. They linked arms forming a human chain.  The roar of rushing water made it impossible to hear each other. The current swept past Koons’ chest. view article

Far from destroying democracy, mid-decade redistricting reflects processes that are messy, political, and entirely accountable to voters.  Texas finds itself once again embroiled in a familiar political storm. Republicans control both chambers of the legislature and the governor’s office and are considering revising the state’s congressional map before the next census.  Democrats and their allies in the press are portraying the move as a threat to democracy. “Mid-decade redistricting!” they cry. “Republican partisans drawing Republican seats is an outrage!”  But Republicans are simply engaging in the same political hardball Democrats themselves played for decades when they were in charge, and the courts have repeatedly stated that the practice is perfectly legal. view article

The Texas Supreme Court said in 2021 the Constitution allows members to thwart legislation by leaving the state. Abbott wants them to reconsider. Texas Democrats had been out of state for less than 48 hours when Gov. Greg Abbott moved to have their seats declared vacant. The emergency legal filing represents an unprecedented escalation of Abbott’s effort to pass a new congressional map that adds additional GOP seats, as demanded by President Donald Trump. It flies in the face of Texas’ own founding documents, centuries of legal precedent and a recent Supreme Court of Texas ruling, legal experts say. Even Attorney General Ken Paxton, a fellow Republican, threw cold water on Abbott’s strategy, filing his own brief saying that while he “appreciates the Governor’s passion,” he does not have the authority to bring this type of case. view article

The plan increases the share of Hispanic voters in three of the five districts targeted by the GOP, banking that enough will turn out and vote for Republicans without Donald Trump on the ballot. view article

Kerr County officials grilled over absences, delays in tense Kerrville hearing  KERRVILLE — Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick slammed Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly at a hearing Thursday for being absent on July 4 as rising flood waters tore through the county, washing away homes and killing more than 100 people.   “I don’t know where you were on Day One, on July 4, but you should have been here. You should have been here directing that response. That is your responsibility,” Patrick, a Republican who presides over the state Senate, told Kelly at the flood-focused hearing.  “I just want to set the record straight. Everyone was here that day working their ass off, and you were nowhere to be found.” view article