Artificial intelligence (“AI”) use is on the rise in Texas schools. From lesson-planning platforms to student-facing chatbots, AI is reshaping how instruction happens. But as more people use AI, one question lingers: Who is responsible when mishaps occur? In Texas, AI creates legal complexities where education law already demands careful attention to student privacy, curriculum standards, and teacher certification. Because AI provides a new way to violate state and federal laws, even inadvertently, educators and administrators must be mindful when using AI to ensure that the law is still being followed.

The sweeping rule changes, all enacted outside the typical legislative process, have upended life for noncitizens, including those who are here legally.  Over the last year, Texas Republicans have enacted sweeping regulatory and legal changes that have upended all facets of life for noncitizens. The state has limited who can get an occupational license; register or buy a car; obtain commercial driver’s licenses; and get in-state tuition at colleges and universities.  Over the last year, Texas Republicans have enacted sweeping regulatory and legal changes that have upended all facets of life for noncitizens. The state has limited who can get an occupational license; register or buy a car; obtain commercial driver’s licenses; and get in-state tuition at colleges and universities.  The changes are wreaking havoc on the 1.7 million people without documentation in Texas, as well as tens of thousands of refugees and people with protected legal status, like Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Already, more than 6,400 refugees and DACA recipients have lost their commercial driver’s licenses. Many more noncitizens are expected to lose the ability to work in licensed industries from construction and medicine to air conditioning and cosmetology.The changes are wreaking havoc on the 1.7 million people without documentation in Texas, as well as tens of thousands of refugees and people with protected legal status, like Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Already, more than 6,400 refugees and DACA recipients have lost their commercial driver’s licenses. Many more noncitizens are expected to lose the ability to work in licensed industries from construction and medicine to air conditioning and cosmetology. view article

The rule comes after a recent opinion by Attorney General Ken Paxton requiring licensing authorities to obtain social security numbers from applicants.  Beginning May 1, Texas will bar individuals who cannot prove they are lawfully present in the U.S. from obtaining or renewing state‑issued professional licenses. It will also impact occupational and trade licenses.  Commissioners for the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) approved a new rule on Tuesday to check the lawful presence of people applying for or renewing state licenses when they are flagged for verification.  The new rule requires TDLR to verify an applicant’s eligibility under federal immigration law when that applicant is selected for verification under department procedures. It applies across all TDLR‑regulated licenses.  If an applicant is selected, they must submit documentation before a license can be issued or renewed.  view article

34-year-old Sawyer Stinchfield was arrested on April 20 by the Lake Worth Police Department after the Azle Police Department issued an arrest warrant. Stinchfield was previously a special education teacher at Azle High School. view article

A former Donna Independent School District employee is accused of having an improper relationship with a student. Francisco San Roman, 50, of Donna, has been charged with online solicitation of a minor under 14, improper relationship between educator and student, and indecency with a child sexual contact, Hidalgo County jail records show. view article

Lindale Independent School District held its first school board meeting Monday since an 8-year-old student died following a medical emergency on campus last week. The regularly scheduled meeting did not include any agenda items addressing the incident that involved the death of Adrian Thompson. During public comment, family members called on the district to review emergency protocols, staff training and cafeteria supervision. view article

A Spring ISD theater arts teacher is out of jail after a late-night police chase on Friday, followed by a half-naked arrest, according to court records. According to Houston police, the incident began in downtown Houston, where they say Tyler Canada sped past officers on Milam Street, swerving through traffic, running red lights, and at one point, driving the wrong way on Main Street. view article

An ex-Northwest ISD teacher was federally indicted on charges of possessing child sexual abuse material, allegations that are unrelated to his former students. Kyle Lee Roy Francis, 24, of Denton faces two counts of receiving and possessing videos of child sexual abuse depicting young children. view article

Carrollton Police arrested Kolby Campbell, a theater teacher at Creekview High School, on March 28 and charged him with child grooming. The alleged incident took place in August 2024. Brice had been a teacher in CFBISD since 2020. Campbell was booked into the Denton County Jail on March 28 and bonded out later the same day. view article

A security guard at a Donna Independent School District campus has been fired following an investigation into an alleged inappropriate relationship with a student, according to a Donna ISD spokesperson. view article

A former Northwest ISD teacher was indicted and faces federal child pornography charges in the Eastern District of Texas, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice. view article

A woman has been arrested after making a non-credible threat against G.W. Bradford Rusk Primary School Wednesday. Rusk ISD first announced a “SECURE Lockout” around 9 a.m. The district has since returned to “normal operations” after the school and law enforcement determined it was safe. view article

Corpus Christi Independent School District Board of Trustees Vice President Marty Bell has resigned from his leadership role and committee assignment after acknowledging a conflict of interest. Following a closed session discussion during Monday evening's school board meeting, Bell read a statement taking responsibility for failing to disclose a conflict of interest. He resigned as vice president and stepped down from his seat on the curriculum committee, though he remains an elected school board member. view article

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - Seven months after Texas Senate Bill 13 took effect, some Central Texas school districts say they are still working through new requirements for how they select, review and challenge school library materials — and some are using artificial intelligence tools to help manage the workload. view article

People will be allowed to buy smokeable hemp THC products, such as flower buds and rolled joints, from Texas businesses until at least April 23. view article

Emboldened by overturning Roe v. Wade, conservative legal groups hope Ken Paxton’s successor will help them overturn gay marriage and public school access for undocumented students.     1975, Texas passed a law allowing school districts to exclude undocumented students from free public school. When a district in Tyler enacted such a policy, a group of families sued.  The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Plyler v. Doe that Texas’ law was unconstitutional and children had a right to public education, regardless of their citizenship status. view article

Multiple Spring ISD employees are on leave after mistakenly sending an email containing other employees' Social Security numbers, the district confirmed late Friday. Spring ISD emailed its 5,600 employees at 4:50 p.m. to inform them of the breach, hours after Eyewitness News began asking the district about it. view article

He said the Justice Department’s decision amounts to a “get out of jail free card.”  The “DOJ is turning its back on the victims, and those victims are left with no recourse and no assurance that any actions will be taken to remedy the harms that were identified in DOJ’s original complaint,” Smith said.  The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Smith’s criticisms. During the hearing, however, Hussain said the department would ensure Colony Ridge abides by the settlement. In a court filing, the developer said it had already started implementing the provisions, which include adopting stricter lending standards. view article

In December 2023, the U.S. Justice Department sued a Texas land developer it accused of duping tens of thousands of Hispanic residents into predatory mortgages, a landmark case for the Biden administration.  Colony Ridge, which sold plots in massive subdivisions north of Houston, had become a “one-stop shop for discriminatory lending,” Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for civil rights, said at a news conference announcing the lawsuit. The developer targeted Hispanic applicants through false advertising and persuaded them to take out high-interest loans that many could not afford, then benefited when it foreclosed on their properties, the lawsuit alleged.  Three years later, the Trump administration and Colony Ridge are on the verge of resolving the case. But the $68 million proposed settlement provides no money for victims of the alleged scheme. 

A Splendora ISD teacher is facing felony charges after she allegedly faked an assault by a student. The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office says that the teacher, Nicole Truelove, was arrested after a lockdown at Splendora High School. Police say evidence indicates her wound was self-inflicted. view article

By a 5-2 vote early Wednesday, the Brownsville Independent School District Board of Trustees placed Superintendent Jesus H. Chavez on administrative leave. The development marked a bittersweet end to Chavez’s tenure as superintendent after 2 1/2 years of service. A Brownsville native, Chavez often said how proud he was to serve as BISD’s top administrator. view article

Milton “Rob” Fields III, Judson Independent School District’s most recent superintendent, has withdrawn his request for an independent hearing regarding his proposed termination. The Judson ISD School Board proposed terminating Fields’ employment contract during a vote early last March, following months of debate. view article

A state district court judge set an August trial date for Centerville ISD Superintendent Carole Dickey, who is accused of concealing inappropriate conduct by a district employee. She has been on administrative leave from the district since October. view article

The U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the southern and western districts of Texas continue to report a high volume of illegal immigration cases and related crimes. 
The U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the southern and western districts of Texas continue to report a high volume of illegal immigration cases and related crimes. 
Last week, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas reported over 500 cases filed, a new record high set since the implementation of Operation Take Back America.  These cases include charges filed for illegal entry, reentry following prior removal, and human smuggling crimes. The district reports that many of these individuals have prior felony charges, which include narcotics, assault, immigration offenses, and firearm charges. view article

A lawsuit filed against Millsap ISD, its former superintendent, an elementary school principal and two former educators regarding the alleged abuse of autistic children has been almost entirely dismissed, court records show. Former Millsap ISD superintendent Edie Martin and two former educators -- Jennifer Dale, 44, and Paxton Kendal Bean, 25 -- were arrested in March 2025 after a video of a February incident showed educators allegedly abusing an autistic child in a classroom. view article

In late 2023, Prosper activist Doug Charles said he received internal documents from a former Pogue Construction employee suggesting billing irregularities among $400 million of contracts with Prosper ISD. Charles said he sent the records to the FBI. In 2024, he shared them with a former federal prosecutor and an attorney with expertise in organized crime cases, both of whom work for Dallas law firms owned by former state Sen. Ted Lyon. view article

Seven juveniles are being charged in connection with an incident on a Canyon ISD school bus. According to the Randall County Sheriff's Office, the seven juveniles are being referred to Randall County Juvenile Probation for charges. The incident occurred on Feb. 27 on a Randall High School bus carrying a junior varsity baseball team back from a tournament in Lubbock, according to the criminal complaint. view article

The Randall County Sheriff’s Office has released an update on charges related to the incident on a Canyon ISD school bus. On Tuesday, March 3, the Randall County Sheriff’s Office received reports of possible criminal activity on a Canyon ISD high school bus. The Randall County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division began investigating this. view article

What began as a criminal investigation disguised as an alleged welfare check in October of 2018 set off a chain of events that would take nearly eight years to unwind through criminal court, a federal lawsuit, multiple appellate rulings, and ultimately, a jury verdict finding two former Midland ISD police officers, Alexandra Weaver and Kevin Brunner, liable for violating a family’s constitutional rights. view article

'I am innocent and I am a fighter.'  Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida just got one step closer to being expelled from the House of Representatives.  The House Ethics investigative subcommittee effectively found Cherfilus-McCormick guilty of nearly every campaign finance violation levied against her earlier this year. The bipartisan panel voted to start the process that could lead to Cherfilus-McCormick's expulsion after she was accused of laundering millions of dollars worth of Federal Emergency Management Agency funds related to a COVID-era contract into her campaign account. view article

A dispute over Texas’ new school choice program has escalated into a public clash between Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock and Attorney General Ken Paxton, highlighting tensions within state leadership as litigation continues over the program’s implementation.  In a March 24 letter to Paxton, Hancock raised concerns about alleged terrorism ties among certain schools seeking to participate in the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program and urged additional legal action.  The letter follows a recent federal court order extending the application deadline for families and requiring the state to provide Islamic schools access to apply while lawsuits over their eligibility proceed.   Hancock pointed specifically to Houston Quran Academy, one of the schools the court has temporarily allowed to participate. view article

A former Denton ISD employee was arrested last week and charged with injury to a child following an incident at Strickland Middle School, officials say. According to the Denton Police Department, 22-year-old Alexis Ray turned herself in on Friday on a warrant for the charge. The incident the charge stems from reportedly took place on March 17. view article

Controversy is growing around Austin ISD’s Pride Week, set for this week, as the State Board of Education calls on the district to get rid of the themed week altogether, and some parents argue there are more pressing issues. The debate comes as a new state law, Senate Bill 12, has recently gone into effect. The law bans the use of diversity, equity, and inclusion in public schools and clubs. view article

Officials approved the change after hearing from speakers who argued it would hamper the state’s economy and push immigrants to work without licenses in the black market.   People seeking a host of professional licenses in Texas, from electricians to dog breeders, will soon have to prove they are in the country legally after the state’s Commission of Licensing and Regulation on Tuesday adopted a new rule that could affect thousands of workers.  Commissioners unanimously approved the change after hearing from a parade of speakers who largely asked them to do the opposite because of worries that it will hamper the state’s economy and burden immigrants trying to make an honest living. The speakers also argued the move will push people to work without a license, and erode state oversight of crucial industries. The commission oversees the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which plans to implement the rule May 1. view article

The Blanco County property has not been used for school purposes since 1952.  In Lindig’s case, the trial court came to a different conclusion. Judge Allan Garrett of the 33rd District Court determined that “although the conveyance for school purposes is set forth generally in the deed, the reverter clause does not terminate the grantees’ ownership of the property if it ceases being used for school purposes. Rather, the reverter clause expressly states that it is triggered only if a school house is removed from the land.”  On appeal in 2015, the Third Court of Appeals in Austin affirmed this reasoning, adding that it was “undisputed that the building once used as a school remains on the property.” view article