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

A coalition of 24 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday challenging a Trump administration rule that limits access to federal student loans for borrowers earning a graduate degree in several popular, healthcare-related fields.  "Higher education is expensive, and our health care system is already under immense strain," New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. "This rule will shut talented people out of critical professions and leave communities with fewer health care providers they desperately need."    At issue is a pair of complex changes that, taken together, drew the ire of the American Nurses Association and triggered Tuesday's lawsuit. view article

In October, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued pharmaceutical companies tied to Tylenol in state court, repeating claims made a month earlier by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that the pain relief drug was linked to autism and ADHD in children.  Paxton, a close ally of the Trump administration who had already announced a U.S. Senate bid, accused drugmakers of marketing Tylenol to pregnant mothers without disclosing its dangers. “The reckoning has arrived,” the state’s attorneys wrote in the lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies Johnson & Johnson, Kenvue Brands and Kenvue Inc.  “By holding Big Pharma accountable for poisoning our people, we will help Make America Healthy Again,” Paxton proclaimed in a news release that echoed Kennedy’s slogan.  Paxton hired the Chicago law firm Keller Postman to argue the case in state court. The firm had served as lead counsel in a similar case about Tylenol’s safety that was dismissed a year earlier by a New York federal judge who found the plaintiffs’ expert witnesses unreliable. view article

A former Marshall ISD educational aide is accused of hanging a student upside down by their feet and swinging them around, causing the child to hit their head, according to an affidavit. Rachel Ann Kirspel, 37, of Marshall was arrested Monday and charged with injury to a child. According to the affidavit, the incident occurred May 14 at the Marshall Early Childhood Center, located at in the 1600 block of Meadow Street. view article

Critics are pointing to two other serious felony cases that the attorney general’s prosecutors took to trial that ended in mistrials and, eventually, plea deals. view article

The city filed a lawsuit in Travis County to validate bonds that voters have twice rejected.  Attorney General Ken Paxton has suggested that a Travis County district court dismiss a bond-validation lawsuit that the City of McKinney had filed against its own citizens. Voters had twice rejected bonds funding an airport expansion project before the city sought alternate solutions. view article

The group allegedly misled donors while funneling millions to groups it publicly condemns.  Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched an investigation into the Southern Poverty Law Center following allegations that the organization funded violent extremist groups it publicly claims to oppose.  The investigation comes after federal prosecutors indicted the SPLC in April on fraud charges, alleging the nonprofit improperly raised millions of dollars from donors while secretly directing funds to individuals affiliated with groups such as the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).  The SPLC has long positioned itself as a watchdog organization that tracks and exposes so-called “hate groups” while advocating against discrimination and extremism. Its widely cited reports and designations have influenced public discourse, policymaking, and corporate decisions across the country. view article

A Cleveland ISD teacher is facing charges after investigators say she had an improper relationship with a student, according to district officials and jail records. view article

TEXARKANA, Texas -- Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has named Texarkana Independent School District as one of the many districts his office is investigating for purported noncompliance with two state laws. view article

McKinney chose to file in Travis County, where citizens are unlikely to appear on short notice. view article

The ruling blocks Texas DPS from enforcing a state law making illegal reentry a crime and allowing the state to issue “removal” orders against illegal aliens.  A federal judge has once again blocked major portions of Texas’ border enforcement law Senate Bill 4, stopping the state from enforcing its new “reentry” crime and deportation process against noncitizens with prior removal histories—just as those provisions were set to take effect. view article

The law, which gives state law enforcement and judges a role in immigration enforcement, is set to go into effect in two days. view article

After a dizzying string of court actions on smokeable hemp this week, Texas 15th Court of Appeals agreed to allow the sale of the drug until May 14. view article

An employee at Cleveland Ninth Grade Center has been charged with having an improper relationship with a student, according to an email sent to parents late Wednesday. In the email, which a parent forwarded to Eyewitness News, Cleveland ISD said it recently became aware of the alleged relationship and that Cleveland ISD police began investigating. view article

More Ten Commandments posters are making their way into Central Texas schools, with a large donation delivered to Lake Travis ISD this week. The nonprofit group Texas Values provided about 610 posters to the district Wednesday — part of a broader effort following a recent federal appeals court decision upholding a Texas law tied to religious displays in public schools. view article

In this week’s episode of Student News Now on KXAN+, our local reporters dive into an Austin ISD student now in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. The student, 18-year-old Fernando Cabrera Chavarria, was driving home from work when a Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper pulled him over. The trooper who stopped him determined he was not lawfully in the United States, according to Texas DPS. view article

The Wichita Falls ISD is under investigation by the Texas Attorney General’s Office regarding the district’s compliance with Senate Bills 10 and 11. Attorney General Ken Paxton announced his statewide investigation into 29 school districts on May 7. Senate Bill 10 requires public schools to display donated copies of the Ten Commandments that meet certain requirements. Senate Bill 11 requires school boards to vote whether to allow time for prayer and bible reading. view article

The head football coach and athletic director at Klein High School is being investigated for misconduct stemming from a previous job in another school district. In a letter sent to families and staff on Monday, Tomball ISD said Nick Codutti was being investigated for “allegations of misconduct that date back to his employment in Tomball ISD.” 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.

Waco ISD says it is complying with state laws tied to classroom prayer and Ten Commandments displays amid a Texas investigation. view article

Luis Fernando Cabrera Chavarria’s life in Austin had become a steady routine that started and ended with his 2-year-old nephew. Chavarria woke up early to take him to a babysitter while Chavarria's sister, Holi, slept after a late shift. Chavarria went to school, then soccer practice and work at a neighborhood Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen. Then, finally, home to play with his nephew and fall asleep — but not before a pillow fight. view article

Texas A&M says “TexAM” branding improperly trades on the university system’s name and reputation.  Officials with the Texas A&M University System have formally objected to the use of the “TexAM University” name by a North Texas Islamic educational entity already facing a state order to cease operations. view article

The investigation centers on many of the districts that were involved in litigation halting enforcement of the Ten Commandments law.  Attorney General Ken Paxton is launching a statewide investigation into dozens of Texas school districts to see whether they are following new laws requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in classrooms. He is also requesting evidence that each school board voted on whether to put organized prayer time back into public schools.  Paxton’s office announced that it has sent investigative demands to nearly 30 ISDs—from urban systems like Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, and Cypress-Fairbanks to suburbs like Lake Travis, Dripping Springs, and Plano—ordering them to turn over records showing whether they are displaying the Ten Commandments and whether their boards have voted on implementing a daily prayer period.  view article

Jonathan Cory Cruz, of Georgetown, was arrested on May 4 on a 2024 warrant from Arlington Police. He has been charged with injury to a child with intent to cause bodily injury, stemming from an incident in January 2024. view article

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