Texas’ Supreme Court has been asked to consider compelling the Harris County Commissioners Court to declare a disputed commissioner’s seat vacant and order a special election to fill it.  The case concerns an ongoing dispute over whether Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia vacated his seat when he accepted an appointment to a second public office in 2023.  Richard Vega—Garcia’s Republican challenger for the Precinct 2 seat in November—recently filed for mandamus relief, asking the Court to force Harris County’s hand since it has refused to declare the seat vacant and call a special election. He argues the county is required to do so under the law. Vega is hoping for the opportunity to take office early in order to vote on a county budget and tax rate in mid-September. He is asking the court to rule before July 6 to accommodate time for the required election.  The Court has given Harris County until June 15 to respond. view article

The lawsuit targets statements the men made about the controversial housing development north of Houston. view article

Advocates want a federal appeals court to allow them to fight for the Texas Dream Act. The law giving eligible undocumented students in-state tuition at colleges was blocked last year.   Students, immigrant-rights advocates and Austin Community College asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday to let them defend the Texas Dream Act that has helped thousands of undocumented students afford college.  view article

Advocates want a federal appeals court to allow them to fight for the Texas Dream Act. The law giving eligible undocumented students in-state tuition at colleges was blocked last year.  Students, immigrant-rights advocates and Austin Community College are asking the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday to let them defend the Texas Dream Act that has helped thousands of undocumented students afford college.  The law allowed certain students who attended and graduated from high school in Texas to pay in-state tuition, even if they lacked legal immigration status. The measure was blocked exactly one year ago after the Trump administration sued the state, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton agreed not to defend the law.  Now, Students for Affordable Tuition, La Unión del Pueblo Entero, Austin Community College and student Oscar Silva want a chance to defend the law themselves. Paxton’s office and Justice Department lawyers say the case shouldn’t be reopened because the Texas law conflicts with federal immigration law. view article

The settlement approval between Texas and New Mexico is being proclaimed a win for farmers and water rights. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller publicly praised the outcome, “I commend Attorney General Ken Paxton for securing this historic settlement that protects Texas water rights and holds our neighbors accountable. Water is the lifeblood of Texas life and agriculture, and this agreement helps ensure our producers have the resources they need to continue feeding and clothing our state, our nation, and the world.”  view article

She noted that her comments were “clearly directed” at Watkins, not the foundation, but it was the foundation that sued her. “I believe my opponent, who is a director of the 501c3, along with the superintendent and the majority of board members who supported him, used the foundation for political law-fare,” she wrote. “They then non-suited, leaving me with thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees … never having to show how the foundation was actually ‘damaged’ by my comments regarding my political opponent, recruited by the superintendent, who is also the executive director of the Foundation.”   Leo Wilson added that since suing her the foundation has grown from $175 million to $250 million. As previously reported, an activist raised questions about BHEF’s use of taxpayer monies meant to benefit students. Eight years of the foundation’s federal filings show it returned just three percent of monies it received to Barbers Hill ISD.  The Texas Education Agency launched an investigation into the school district in February, which an agency spokesperson stated “remains open and ongoing.”  view article

Wylie ISD has received and accepted the resignation of Wylie East High School Principal Tiffany Doolan. Mrs. Doolan notified the district on May 26 of her decision to step down after 19 years of service to Wylie ISD students, staff, and families. For the past four months, Wylie East High School and Wylie ISD have faced significant public attention following the Feb. 2, 2026, “Why Islam” incident at the school. From the beginning, the district acknowledged that the situation should never have occurred and that serious mistakes were made. The district, Board of Trustees, and campus leadership publicly apologized, accepted responsibility for the procedural failure, and took immediate action to address the matter. Corrective measures were implemented, and procedures were strengthened to help prevent such a situation from happening again.  Wylie ISD has consistently stated that the district does not promote religion, politics, or ideology and strongly believes those matters belong between students and their families. Wylie ISD also rejects any claim that the district was dishonest or misleading regarding the events of Feb. 2. The district has communicated transparently with Wylie East parents, the community, and the media throughout this matter. Assertions that the district intentionally promoted a religion, attempted to hide facts, or failed to address the matter are false. view article

The Celina ISD board of trustees has removed eight titles from its library catalog, including "Beloved" by Toni Morrison and "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker.  The board voted to remove the books under Senate Bill 13, a state law which went into effect last September, at meetings April 20 and May 18.  Out of 13 books under consideration, the board decided to remove three books April 20 and five books May 18.  The trustees upheld the recommendation of the school library advisory council on whether to keep or remove each book. view article

Paxton is banking on his recent lawsuits against tech and social media companies like Meta, WhatsApp and Discord to win a Senate seat, building on notable victories in years past. view article

The Mansfield school board is looking into questions about whether the board president meets district residency requirements following a Star-Telegram report on Tuesday. In March, board president Jandel Crutchfield signed a non-homestead affidavit saying she does not reside in the Mansfield home she gave as her primary mailing address when she ran for school board in 2024. In the sworn statement, which was filed in Tarrant County, Crutchfield declared she had never lived in the Mansfield home and had no intention of doing so in the future. The affidavit characterized the home as an investment property.   view article

Two LGBTQ+ groups called the lawsuit “frivolous,” saying plans for the event at a public pool had already changed to comply with a new Texas law.  Attorney General Ken Paxton said Monday that his office has sued the City of Denton to block plans for gender-neutral changing rooms during a private Pride swim party at a public pool.  In a joint statement, PRIDENTON and OUTreach Denton said the lawsuit was unnecessary because the LGBTQ+ groups had already changed plans and removed mention of gender-neutral changing rooms from all posts about their fourth-annual swim event on June 7. view article

A U.S. judge on Thursday granted a preliminary injunction against critical sections of Senate Bill 4, but a provision allowing police to arrest people suspected of illegal entry did activate. view article

Texas’ Supreme Court ruled that trustees can go straight to court to obtain records they are entitled to.  Texas’ Supreme Court has ruled that school board members don’t have to go through the Texas Education Agency to force school districts to release records, but can go straight to court.  While most legal disputes concerning the education system require exhausting remedies through the TEA, the Court concluded that Texas Education Code 11.1512 offers a statutory exception.  It has now been clarified that when a school district blows its deadline to turn over documents that trustees are entitled to see, those trustees can go straight to court instead of being dragged through TEA’s slow, delay‑ridden process. view article

Former La Pryor Independent School District superintendent William Arevalo, who was placed on paid leave pending an investigation into an alleged assault, was arrested, according to the Zavala County Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff’s office said Arevalo was arrested on Wednesday on a charge of injury to a child. view article

A Cy-Fair ISD mother says her 13-year-old daughter was sexually assaulted by a fellow student on campus, and that school administrators failed to take action even after she and her husband reported the incident. The mother, whose identity is being withheld to protect her daughter, says the alleged misconduct escalated rapidly over the course of just a few school days. view article

A Dallas high school principal removed from a school after a racial controversy last fall has been appointed to lead another campus Award-winning principal Chandra Hooper Barnett was named the new leader of Lincoln High School, a magnet school in southern Dallas whose student population is more than 70% Black. It comes several months after the district removed her as principal of Woodrow Wilson High School after she allegedly called a meeting of only Black students to reprimand them for their academic performance. view article

The approval comes after Attorney General Paxton filed a lawsuit against a shareholder advisory firm that attempted to discourage the move.  ExxonMobil investors have approved the company’s move of its legal domicile to Texas. The oil company’s proposal originally faced opposition from one of the largest shareholder advisory firms.  Texas sued Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) following its expressed disapproval of ExxonMobil’s plans to relocate.   Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton argued in the lawsuit filed last week that ISS used its influence over corporate shareholders “to advance ESG and diversity-focused political agendas rather than objective financial guidance.”  Paxton specifically pointed out ISS’s opposition to ExxonMobil’s plan for redomiciling in Texas as evidence for his accusations. view article

County officials found that hundreds of the flagged voters registered through DPS, which requires proof of citizenship. view article

Just a few months ago, the smart home device company Ring paid millions of dollars to run a seemingly innocuous Super Bowl advertisement about finding lost dogs. Using the app’s now-defunct “Search Party” function, the ad showed how users could share a picture of their lost dog with Ring, which would access customer camera feeds and use artificial intelligence to locate their pet. Ring’s marketing team probably thought the ad would be heartwarming and well received. Instead, they almost immediately faced backlash from viewers concerned about the wide-reaching implications of home surveillance and data-sharing with police.  view article

Carroll Independent School District (ISD) is celebrating a significant legal victory over a Biden administration rule that the district said would have allowed men who identify as women into girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms. “This outcome represents a significant legal victory for Carroll ISD, for the state of Texas, the entire nation and for those committed to preserving the original intent of Title IX, which was to ensure women and girls had equal access to educational opportunities, expanded opportunities in athletics, and extended protections in sex-based discrimination like the prevention from boys accessing our daughters bathrooms, locker rooms and competing on their athletic teams,” Carroll ISD Board of Trustees President Cameron Bryan said during his president’s report this week. view article

Parents rallied outside of the Pflugerville ISD Office on Friday in continued efforts to challenge the district on its decision to close four schools in 2027-28 as part of its balanced budget process. view article

A former Magnolia ISD teacher is now in custody and charged with an improper relationship between an educator and a student. Court documents reveal that 40-year-old Jason Maldonado worked at Magnolia Parkway Elementary school as a second-grade teacher. view article

Montgomery County Precinct 5 Constables are actively investigating allegations involving a former second-grade teacher that was employed at Magnolia Parkway Elementary School in the Magnolia Independent School District. The investigation began in December 2025 following a report received through Child Protective Services alleging inappropriate contact between the teacher and students. Since that time, Montgomery County Precinct 5 Investigators have conducted multiple forensic interviews with students, interviewed witnesses and school personnel, and contacted numerous families associated with the classroom. view article

A West Side middle school principal was arrested early Wednesday morning and is accused of driving while intoxicated, jail records show. Kevin Vanlanham, 36, drove the wrong way on West Loop 1604 and was pulled over by Converse police just after 2 a.m., a Converse lieutenant officer told KSAT. view article

Ever wondered how the regulations that impact public schools are made? Regulations are created by Texas state agencies under the requirements of The Texas Administrative Procedure Act. These types of laws were adopted across the country, beginning in the 1940s, to ensure fairness while bringing efficiency and accuracy into the states’ administrative processes.

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.

As we all know by now, the 89th Legislative Session(s) brought numerous changes to the world of special education. In the midst of all of the high-profile special education legislation, one important change may have slipped through the cracks: House Bill 2 and Senate Bill 568 made changes to the requirements surrounding surveillance of special education settings.

You might have thought the latest Legislative session was a significant change to public education, and you are right. But the most significant change to public education in Texas came from the institution of Districts of Innovation (DOI). For years, public schools complained that they were being compared to charter schools and that was not an apples-to-apples comparison, but DOIs provide school districts the freedom to opt out of many of the laws and requirements with which charter schools are not saddled.

The 89th legislative session has produced a staggering number of changes to the landscape of Texas education. Perhaps one of the more jarring changes was the addition of chapter 26A to the Texas Education Code. This new chapter codifies the grievance provisions that school districts are required to implement in policy. Some of the requirements in the Chapter simply mirror the procedures already common amongst school districts, such as the use of a multi-tiered grievance appeal process. Others, however, depart from the usual grievance procedures or create new procedures entirely. This article will highlight some of the largest departures from past grievance procedures and discuss the implications of these changes for Texas school districts.

My favorite article that I have written over the years is one on official state holidays and recognitions. I find it fascinating to see which lobbyists succeed in recognitions for their cause. I look at this calendar and wonder why Monarch butterflies and veterinarian technicians get their own week, Lung Cancers Awareness gets only one day, Gold Star mothers get a day but not fathers, and there are no recognition days in December? Did you know that the 11 th day of each month is a recognition “day?”

In case you are running low on things to worry about this semester, never fear. This article is dedicated to the False Claims Act (FCA), another tool the federal government appears happy to point in the direction of public schools.

Governments rely on private contractors, or vendors. Many times, using a vendor is either more efficient, less expensive, or gives the government access to expertise that it does not have. Given the ubiquitous nature of contracts with the private sector, devoting some time and attention to your vendor contracts is important.

A Garland ISD employee is on administrative leave after allegedly taking photos of a female elementary school student while she was in the restroom. The incident reportedly took place during the week of March 29 at Abbett Elementary, according to an email sent to parents on Thursday, April 1. view article

Pursuant to subsection 38.001(f) of the Education Code, the Legislature provided that a student who has not received the immunizations required by law “for reasons of conscience, including because of the person’s religious beliefs, may be excluded from school in times of emergency or epidemic declared by the commissioner of public health.” Read in context, a court likely would conclude that this exception does not permit exclusion of students who lack vaccinations unrelated to an existing "epidemic" contemplated by subsection 38.001(f). view article

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