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

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

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

A Bexar County judge on Friday dismissed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s lawsuit challenging the county’s immigration legal services program, bringing an end to weeks of legal battles before any court could hear the merits of the case. In Bexar County’s presiding court, 408th Civil District Court Judge Angelica Jimenez granted the county’s motion to dismiss filed earlier this week, ruling the case is moot after the remaining funds tied to the program were already distributed. view article

Litigation over a rigged $95M lottery jackpot includes a fight to hide companies and individuals involved in a scheme dubbed “money laundering” by lawmakers. Defendants in a high-profile lawsuit involving the alleged rigging of the Texas Lottery are continuing to fight attempts to expose their corporate interests.  The controversy surrounding the jackpot in question led Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to describe the Texas Lottery as “probably the biggest money laundering scheme in the country.” view article

A federal court cleared the way for Senate Bill 12, which prohibits drag performances on public property or in front of children, to take effect Wednesday. view article

Regent approval comes at a time of public concern about “Woke AI.”  Khan’s development leave request further elaborates that her intent is to integrate “artificial intelligence with equity-driven practices.”The leave request further states that the project’s objective is to explore “how artificial intelligence can support equity in developmental mathematics.”  On October 3, Casa de Calvo wrote to interim Provost Christopher Markwood in support of Khan’s leave application.   Khan’s “proposal reflects an effort to connect research on pedagogy, equity, and artificial intelligence in ways that may benefit our students and faculty,” wrote Casa de Calvo.  “The project aims to integrate AI with equity-driven practices through the development of an Algorithmic Equity Framework,” Casa de Calvo continues. Khan’s proposal “is aligned with our institutional priorities.”   While state lawmakers prohibited aspects of DEI ideology in 2023, that prohibition does not extend to this sort of research. view article

Judge Bennett cited the “troubling” lack of Islamic schools in ordering the extension.  An Obama-appointed federal judge has extended the state’s application deadline for its new school choice program to March 31, while lawsuits proceed over the exclusion of Islamic schools. The original deadline was Tuesday at 11:59 p.m.   U.S. District Court Judge Alfred Bennett of the Southern District of Texas in Houston reportedly called the lack of Islamic schools “troubling.”   There are two federal lawsuits currently before Judge Bennett challenging Texas’ exclusion of certain Islamic private schools from the program for having terrorist ties. Earlier this week, the State advised the court that it is unopposed to consolidating the two cases. view article

East Texas elementary school employee accused of having child porn arrested  ONALASKA, Texas — An East Texas elementary school employee accused of having child porn was arrested Tuesday night.  Jerry Cobb, 47, was booked into the Angelina County Jail for warrants out of the Onalaska Police Department, including two counts of assault and possession of child pornography, according to OPD. view article

The Washington Post reported that a document was distributed to ICE staff indicating the agency was drafting a letter to potentially terminate the facility’s $1.2 billion contract. view article

Jose Omar Flores-Penaloza was willing to admit that he had entered the United States illegally. He was ready to be deported, according to his attorneys.  But federal prosecutors would not let him go last spring without making him answer for another crime — one he had never heard of.  Weeks earlier, President Donald Trump, to address what he called a national emergency, ordered a stretch of borderland transferred to the military so that troops could help apprehend unauthorized migrants.  Because prosecutors believed Flores-Penaloza had crossed through that zone, now called a national defense area, they charged him with trespassing on military property under statutes including one enacted in 1909 to keep spies away from arsenals.   The added misdemeanors were unlikely to lengthen his sentence; they typically result in time served and deportation. But Flores-Penaloza maintained his innocence in the face of the allegation that could cast him as a national security threat. view article

The federal lawsuits argue Texas officials are engaging in religious discrimination by preventing Islamic private schools from accessing state voucher money.  Four Muslim parents and three private schools have sued Texas leaders for excluding Islamic private schools from participating in the state’s private school voucher program.  The two federal lawsuits ask the court to block the voucher program from discriminating on the basis of religion. The first suit, filed March 1 by a parent acting on behalf of two children who attend a Houston private school, names Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock and Education Commissioner Mike Morath as defendants. A second suit filed March 11 by three parents and three schools names Hancock and Mary Katherine Stout, education savings account program manager, as defendants.  Here’s what to know. view article

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.

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.

If you’re one of the many Texas school districts operating under a District of Innovation (DOI) Plan, you’ve already embraced flexibility and local control. But with each legislative session, it becomes increasingly important to reevaluate whether your plan still fits within the legal boundaries.

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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On May 4, 2020, the Department of Education (“DOE”) issued new Title IX regulations, which direct how educational institutions receiving federal funds must address reports of sexual harassment and sexual assault involving both students and employees. view article

At SL&A, we offer a full array of legal services for our school law clients throughout Texas. We strive to deliver a high-level of client service through teamwork, calling upon our attorneys’ decades of public and private experience to provide practical solutions and advice for all school needs. view article