A former Crowley ISD teacher is in jail and has been charged with having an improper relationship with a student. What we know: 62-year-old Ricardo Ortiz was arrested Thursday, Feb. 5 by Fort Worth police. A letter from Crowley ISD says once it found out about the allegations, Ortiz was removed from contact with students and is no longer employed by the district. view article

A Montgomery County judge has signed an order of nonsuit, effectively dismissing a lawsuit filed by Willis ISD against the city of Conroe in August. The nonsuit, filed by the district Jan. 20, was signed Jan. 21 by 457th state District Judge Vince Santini. view article

A church and coffee shop are claiming the sign requirements violate their First Amendment rights.  Two Harris County property owners are challenging state laws that govern when persons carrying handguns can be convicted of criminal trespass if they enter or remain on property where guns are not welcome.  The laws—Texas Penal Codes 30.06 and 30.07—require the posting of signs with specific requirements on the buildings of property owners that wish to ban handguns from their premises. Property owners may alternatively issue a written notice in the form of cards or give verbal notice to potential violators.  The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans heard oral arguments in January. view article

Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit seeking to shut down the operations of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Muslim Brotherhood in Texas, marking the first major enforcement action stemming from Gov. Greg Abbott’s designation of the groups as foreign terrorist organizations.  The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Collin County, asks a state court to issue temporary and permanent injunctions prohibiting the Muslim Brotherhood, CAIR, and their affiliated entities from operating, fundraising, recruiting members, or engaging in organizational activity within Texas.   “Sharia law and the jihadists who follow sharia law have no business being in Texas,” Paxton said. “I am in full support of Governor Abbott’s lawful declaration that CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood are foreign terrorist organizations, and it’s imperative that they are stopped from operating in Texas. Radical Islamic terrorists are antithetical to law and order, endanger the people of Texas, and are an existential threat to our values.”  view article

Sara Gonzales exposes a Texas public school for handing out Qurans, hijabs, and pamphlets on Sharia law.  The ACLU has long tried to keep the separation of church and state when it comes to Christianity in public schools, and now BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales is calling on them to have the same energy when it comes to Islam.  “If you try to teach Christianity, if you try to preach the Bible inside the schools, they are right there to tell you how there has to be a separation of church and state. And I’m just wondering, I’m wondering if we will hear the same outrage from the ACLU on this next story,” she says. view article

A current and a former Winnsboro ISD superintendent were arrested on additional charges Thursday, according to the Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office. Brian David Wilcox, 50, and Aaron David Nation, 39, were both held Thursday at the Hopkins County Jail on warrants charging them with tampering with physical evidence with intent to impair and with unlawful interception of a wire, oral or electronic device. view article

Lubbock ISD responded to a threat made against one of its middle school campuses Thursday. While the threat was deemed false, Brian Ellyson Director of student and parent resolution for the district said they take every report seriously. “You know that’s our job, is to make sure our kids are educated and our kids are safe,” Ellyson said. view article

A Wylie Independent School District employee is on leave after an incident at Wylie East High School, when an outside religious organization distributed materials on campus without district approval, according to a letter sent to parents. view article

Critics of the nondisclosure agreements say they have protected abusers and institutions for decades.   Cindy Clemishire was 12 years old on Christmas night in 1982 when a traveling evangelist staying with her family first abused her.  According to Clemishire, the sexual abuse continued over the next four years. She eventually told her family and the abuse stopped. But her abuser, Robert Morris, went on to found Gateway Church in Texas, which became one of the largest megachurches in the nation.  When Clemishire sought restitution in 2007, Morris’ attorney offered her $25,000 if she would sign a nondisclosure agreement that would prevent her from speaking publicly about the abuse. She refused. view article

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.

During the 87th (2021) legislative session, the Legislature quietly expanded the authority of the Commissioner to investigate complaints against public schools and intervene beyond accreditation matters. These legislative revisions to Chapter 39 of the Texas Education Code (TEC) are resulting in a new wave of investigations into locally controlled policies and procedures like school district discipline procedures, bullying and harassment policies, and even student record keeping—previously considered the domain of local school officials and beyond the reach of officials in Austin. As a result, filing a complaint with TEA’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) has become the weapon of choice for anyone disgruntled with the actions of a public school.

Congratulations on passing your bond. It’s time to get to work. Let’s, for just a few minutes, set aside the beautiful architectural renderings and the excitement of the benefits that your construction program will bring to you community, and talk about ways to minimize the risk inherent in such a large undertaking.

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

Officers with the Hudson ISD Police Department arrested a former math teacher for the school district on Monday in connection to allegations that he had an improper relationship with a high school student that included sexual contact. view article

On Friday, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) officially filed a grievance against the Wimberley Independent School District, according to our partners at the Austin-American Statesman. The grievance is the result of an email Superintendent Dwain York sent to some parents in December 2019 regarding the altering of the district's logo to include the colors of the gay pride flag, according to the Statesman. view article

A former student has filed a lawsuit against Dallas ISD after he lost his status as his high school’s salutatorian a day before graduation due to a last minute change in rankings. In June, the district apologized after class rankings at Woodrow Wilson High School were changed right before graduation because of a calculation error. Now a former student is suing Dallas ISD, claiming that the change will affect his applications to universities and employers. view article

Terry Burchett, 69, was arrested in South Carolina on February 18 on charges of child pornography. He was found to be in possession of over 9,800 sexually explicit images of children according to the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office. view article

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed against Irving ISD and the city of Irving by Ahmed Mohamed's family, according to Dallas Morning News. Ahmed made headlines when he was 14 years old and made a clock in school that was mistaken for a bomb in 2015. His family stated that his civil rights were violated when he was arrested at MacArthur High School and charged with making a "hoax bomb." The charge was later dropped, but he was still suspended. view article

A Lockhart High School science teacher has been arrested for having an improper relationship with a 17-year-old male student. Sarah Fowlkes started at the district in October 2014. On March 10, 2017 a school administrator reached out to Lockhart Police after receiving a "concerning report." LPD launched an investigation and determined Fowlkes was engaged in sexual contact with the student. view article

The plaintiffs continued building their case Tuesday in the instance of a student at Lewisville ISD who is suing the school for Title IX violations. The girl was 14 years old when she said she went to a high school party and got sexually assaulted by two high school football players at Hebron, a school in the Lewisville district. view article

When Deron Harrington filed a lawsuit on behalf of three parents in May 2015, he was trying to make sure the district where his kids attended school was following student truancy laws. He had a hunch that wasn't the case. At the time, Fort Bend ISD was making headlines for referring thousands of students to the county's specialized truancy court. Data showed a disproportionate number of the district's students referred to truancy court were African-American. As a lawyer, Harrington thought he could make a difference. view article

On March 11, 2016, the Texas Education Agency Commissioner of Education, Mike Morath, requested an opinion from the Texas Attorney General on the implementation of SB 507. This new law requires video surveillance of certain special education settings upon request beginning in the 2016-2017 school year. In an earlier blog post, I outlined the provisions of SB 507. view article

More than two months after a tornado hit Shields Elementary School in northern Ellis County on Dec. 26, Red Oak ISD confirmed Thursday that the original builder of the school, Ratcliff Constructors, has agreed to pay for the repairs. Fox 4's Lori Brown began investigating concerns about the quality of construction at the school  in Glenn Heights after an exterior wall collapsed in the tornado. view article

When Gene and Shirene McIntyre met with an attendance officer in the El Paso Independent School District in November 2006, their nine grandchildren had already been homeschooled for more than a year. But they were concerned the kids weren’t getting a proper education. view article

Harrison County District Attorney Coke Solomon says there is a criminal investigation involving a Hallsville High School coach on administrative leave who recently resigned. Solomon said his office forwarded a request for information about Dean McDaniel to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office for an opinion on whether to withhold the information because he believes releasing it could interfere with the investigation. view article

The Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD (C-FB ISD) Board of Trustees on Thursday  approved a settlement agreement with Guillermo Ramos and Brewer Storefront in relation to a voting rights lawsuit. The board approved the settlement agreement by a 5-2 vote. Board members Frank Shor, Nancy Watten, Nancy Cline, James Goode and John Mathews vote in approval. view article