Years of stipend inequality in Arlington ISD’s pay scale is seeding high turnover among the district’s teachers for visually impaired students, according to current and departing specialists. view article

This time of year, many public-school districts are filling admin, support and teaching positions. While they’ve experienced shortages in the past, this year’s hiring situation is looking up at Nacogdoches ISD. As they get ready for the upcoming school year, Nacogdoches ISD is making progress in filling open positions. view article

This time of year, many public-school districts are filling admin, support and teaching positions. While they’ve experienced shortages in the past, this year’s hiring situation is looking up at Nacogdoches ISD. As they get ready for the upcoming school year, Nacogdoches ISD is making progress in filling open positions. view article

As school districts across Central Texas make budget decisions for the 2024-25 school year, KXAN is keeping track of teacher salaries areawide. There are 58 districts in the KXAN viewing area, from Mason ISD in the west to Fayetteville ISD in the east. So far, 46 of those districts have announced new salaries for the upcoming school year. view article

Katy ISD teachers will receive a one-time payment based on their years of service after board of trustees approved the measure in a special meeting July 16. The lump sum payment, which will be given to teachers in five-year intervals, is meant to encourage retention and attract tenured teachers. Teachers are eligible based on total years of service in and outside of KISD, according to a news release from KISD. view article

On Thursday, the Sulphur Springs ISD Board of Trustees voted to raise staff pay, and take a new pay scale for all employees, during a special called board meeting. Nacogdoches ISD announces new high school principal According to a release from Sulphur Springs ISD, teachers’ and librarians’ new pay plan is based on an increase of 5% from their previous pay scale, resulting in an increase of $2,625 for all teachers and librarians. view article

On Wednesday, Nacogdoches ISD announced Kevin Croft as their new high school principal. LIST: How to get or donate back-to-school supplies in East Texas Croft graduated from Schreiner University in Kerrville where he earned a bachelors and master’s degree. He is also a certified as an English, Language Arts and Reading teacher, NISD said. view article

Newton ISD Police Department Chief Jared Lewis has introduced the officers that will be providing security to school campuses in the 2024-2025 school year. Newly hired Officers Rhonda Ruiz is assigned to Newton Elementary School and Keith Franklin is assigned to Newton Middle School. view article

The Jacksonville Independent School District Board of Trustees hired Stephanie Burns as its new principal for Jacksonville Middle School during a special meeting Monday.  Burns has 19 years of experience in education, having served in both the classroom and administrative roles. She comes to JISD from her position as Campus Dean of Students at Moore Middle School in Tyler.  Burns began her educational career as a classroom teacher for Nacogdoches ISD, became a master teacher and moved to Tyler ISD, where she eventually transferred into administration as assistant principal, then principal, at the elementary level. She became Campus Dean of Students last year.  Burns graduated from Stephen F. Austin State University with a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies, followed by a Masters in Educational Leadership.  When asked what drew her to Jacksonville, Burns, who is originally from Orange, said she likes the closeness and community towns like Jacksonville afford.  “Everybody kind of knows everybody," she said. "You can look out for each other’s children and everybody is just all in it for the greater good. I love that." view article

Kellie Raymond will serve as the new Dripping Springs Elementary principal for the 2024-25 school year.  Raymond was the first principal at Cypress Springs Elementary and served at the school for three years. She’ll return to Dripping Springs Elementary as principal for the second time. Raymond previously served as assistant principal at Walnut Springs Elementary and as a teacher at both Dripping Springs Elementary and Rooster Springs Elementary.  “Mrs. Raymond’s unparalleled professional experience and deep commitment to the DSISD community make her an exceptional choice to lead our largest elementary campus, and I am thrilled that she has chosen to return to [Dripping Springs Elementary],” DSISD Superintendent Holly Morris-Kuentz said in a news release. view article

Five seniors at the UNT system school, all of whom are education majors, will be paid to teach elementary school for the entire Dallas ISD 2024-25 school year. view article

A first-ever Teacher Residency Program is being launched in a partnership between the University of North Texas at Dallas and the Dallas Independent School District. Through the program, five UNT Dallas seniors—all education majors—will be paid to teach in elementary schools for the entire Dallas ISD 2024-25 academic year. view article

As Houston reels from power outages and damage from Hurricane Beryl, its school district released Wednesday a rewrite of the principal hiring regulation that empowers division leadership to decide a principal’s desired qualities with input from families.  Te rewrite comes after HISD scrapped in June the previous regulation requiring a committee of community stakeholders to interview finalists for a principal position. HISD is filling what is understood to be a large number of vacancies after a wave of principal departures at the end of the year. Some of these departures catalyzed school communities to protest because the district requested an unknown number of principals to resign or face board termination.   view article

A group of fifth-graders listen to their teacher, Eva Treviño, during a book review discussion at an Oak Cliff elementary school. (Photo by Rasy Ran) UNT Dallas is launching its first-ever Teacher Residency Program in a landmark partnership with Dallas ISD. view article

Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz is urging the Department of Justice to make a decision on whether former Santa Fe ISD police officer John Barnes is entitled to certain federal benefits. Barnes was the first to confront the gunman during the mass shooting at Santa Fe High School in 2018. view article

Documents obtained from Longview ISD do not provide a clear reason for the mid-year resignation of an elementary campus principal. Those documents, however, point to problems in a life skills, or special education class, at Bramlette STEAM Academy. Nikita Mumphrey, former principal at the campus, submitted her resignation Feb. 20 in a letter that does not appear to tell the whole story about why she left. view article

Parents with children in Round Rock ISD’s Bilingual Education Program said they’re worried the program will suffer now that the district plans to cut stipends for some dual-language staff. In June, RRISD’s board of trustees approved the budget for the 2024-25 school year. In it, cutting stipends for non-classroom bilingual educators. view article

A North Texas elementary school principal died after a "sudden" medical emergency Sunday, school district officials said this week. Leigh Anne Romer was the principal at J.C. Thompson Elementary School in the Northwest Independent School District for 12 years. The school is located in the Sendera Ranch area of far northwest Fort Worth, near Haslet. view article

The Plano Independent School District appointed new principals at two of their senior high schools for the upcoming 2024-25 school year. Kennitra Robertson will lead Plano Senior High School, while Billie-Jean Lee will lead Plano West Senior High School. Last year, Plano East Senior High School also appointed a new principal when David Jones replaced former principal George King when he retired. view article

The Ysleta Independent School District announced Monday that Valerie Hairston will serve as Del Valle High School's new principal, effective immediately. Hairston, who began her education career in 2005 as a science teacher at Ysleta High School, most recently worked as principal for Rafael Hernando III Middle School. view article

School districts across San Antonio have had little success after a year of brainstorming ways to reduce record budget shortfalls that threaten academic programs and teacher recruitment, but Judson Independent School District officials might have cracked the code. After enduring criticism for reluctantly deciding the district couldn’t afford pay raises in the coming school year, the Judson ISD board reversed itself last week, seizing on an unfamiliar maneuver that will modify the district’s property tax rate to raise an additional $12 million for its general fund. Trustees on June 25 approved adding “disaster pennies” to the district’s tax rate, taking advantage of an obscure provision of state law and hanging it on a vague claim of flood expenses. view article

These days, fireworks have all kinds of names: Ghost Dragons, Bombers, Boomers, and while they may look pretty shooting up into the air, they’re just as dangerous as they sound. view article

Lubbock ISD hosted a job fair on Monday, looking to fill special education positions. The fair welcomed candidates at the Monterey High School from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. view article

A former Valentine Independent School District employee has been arrested over allegedly misappropriating school district funds for personal expenses. The United States Attorney’s Office in Western Texas inculpated 42-year-old Ernesto Villarreal of using district-issued credit cards for several unauthorized purchases—including travel, lodging, home improvements, and university tuition payments. Villarreal is also accused of accessing payroll information to direct employees’ and former employees’ payroll payments into his personal bank account by replacing their information with his own bank account information. Now, the Marfa native faces one count of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds and eight counts of wire fraud from the U.S. Attorney’s office. If convicted, he could face up to a decade in prison for the theft charge and two decades for each wire fraud count. view article

Leander ISD is pleased to welcome Jeremy Trimble to the role of Chief Operations Officer after the Board approved the hiring Thursday night. “Jeremy is a proud product of Leander ISD, having attended his whole K-12 career in our district and graduating from Leander High School,” Superintendent Bruce Gearing, Ed.D., said. “With experience working in our operations department from 2010–2015 and then as the Assistant Superintendent for Operations and Planning in Eanes ISD, Jeremy brings educational leadership and a reputation for innovation and strategic visioning to our team.” view article

The Slaton Independent School District is mourning the loss of school police officer Dave Smith. Slaton ISD said it is thankful for Smith’s service to the school district. The district offered condolences and said the community is praying for Smith’s family, friends and the school. On Thursday at 8 p.m., friends and family of Smith will hold a balloon release at the Apex Event Center. The family encouraged anyone who knew him to attend and bring blue and black balloons. view article

Three months ago, trustee William Boaz wasn’t sure if Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD could provide raises. He kept coming back to a single number: zero. He thought the district’s 2024-25 budget was shaping up to be a doozy.  Now, the budget is in a better spot, and so are pay increases. The Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD school board unanimously approved a 2% raise on all full-time employees’ salaries.  “I think this is the most exciting 2%,” Boaz said during a recent meeting as other board members audibly agreed. view article

LA PORTE ISD TO HOLD JOB FAIR ON JUNE 27        La Porte Independent School District will hold a job fair from 4-5:30 p.m. on June 27 to fill classroom teacher and paraprofessional positions.      The district is recruiting:   read more

The Waxahachie ISD board of trustees voted to hire Gary Barnard as its new director of fine arts during a called meeting Monday. Barnard, who has nearly 20 years of experience in public education, will oversee the district’s fine arts programs for all students from pre-K through 12th grade, as well as UIL academics programming. Barnard comes to WISD from Grapevine-Colleyville ISD, where he most recently served as an assistant principal at Colleyville Heritage High School. He has extensive experience as a band director at Colleyville Heritage High School, McKinney North High School, and Braswell High School (Denton ISD), as well as several years of experience as an associate band director at Carroll High School, Birdville High School, and Richland Middle School (Birdville ISD). view article

The Denton County Sheriff’s Office conducted a two-day sting operation that led to the arrest of 23 individuals. 27-year-old Justin Wallace Carter, a now-former employee at Denton High School, was among the individuals arrested on Friday, June 14th. He was charged with online solicitation of a minor. Carter's social media accounts show he was an assistant football coach at Denton High School. Court records show he worked in the school's special education department. view article

Katy ISD is hosting an operations job fair on Saturday, July 13, from 9-11 a.m. at Katy High School. The event will be for non-teaching positions such as: view article

Corpus Christi ISD has announced several changes to the district leadership team for the upcoming school year, including new leaders in the areas of curriculum and instruction, construction and project management and special programs. Sandra Clement, the district's chief officer of school improvement and innovation, will be the new deputy superintendent of curriculum and instruction. The previous deputy superintendent of curriculum and instruction, Kimberley James, is leaving CCISD for a superintendent role at Willis ISD. view article

The Georgetown Independent School District announced Dr. Jennifer Hinson as the new principal to lead Everette L. Williams Elementary School for the 2024-2025 school year. Hinson has been serving as principal in Prosper ISD since 2019, where she collaborated with teachers and staff to create effective unit plans to meet state standards, mentored aspiring leaders in education and established policies and procedures for her campus. view article

Craig Goodman, the new police chief at Waco ISD, said he’s looking to make an impact on students by forming a personal connection with them. Goodman told KWTX he’s seen this strategy work during his previous 25 years at the Pasadena Police Department. “I saw, firsthand, the relationships that our DARE officers were making with these students, that positive connection,” Goodman said. “So that when they go home in the evenings and if they come across another officer that is not a DARE officer, that relationship is there and they’re more apt to open up and visit with the officers.” view article

Waxahachie ISD recently announced that Theresa Burkhalter will be the district’s new assistant superintendent of human resources. In this role, Burkhalter will oversee the district’s human resources functions and policies, including staffing, pay administration, leave administration, performance appraisal, employee relations, and employee benefits. She replaces Monica James, who had served in the role of chief human resources officer since 2019 and is retiring. view article