School officials say the alleged victim is not a student in the district.  An unnamed South Texas school employee is on leave following allegations of “inappropriate” messaging with a child who is not a student in the district.  San Benito Consolidated Independent School District posted a statement to social media on September 6:    view article

Houston ISD has a new chief of human resources, the district confirmed Thursday. Chief of Human Resources Jessica Neyman was removed from her post effective Wednesday, and Deputy Chief of Human Resources Norma Castillo will serve as interim. The district did not comment on why the change occurred. view article

Two Durham Elementary teachers were removed from their classrooms and reassigned to "home duty" last week after Houston ISD made controversial curriculum changes at the campus. Angela Kelly, one of the two Houston ISD teachers who were reassigned, shared the reassignment memo with Houston Public Media. It doesn't include any details about the reasoning behind the personnel move, but Kelly said in an interview she was told at the dismissal meeting with the Durham principal and an HISD official "that changes needed to be made on the campus and that they needed to protect the culture." view article

A Houston ISD union president was reassigned to "home duty" with pay after an alleged "failure to follow campus protocols" and "repeated refusal to implement the HISD Curriculum and Instructional Model," according to documents from late August.   Houston Education Association President Michelle Williams will stay home during work hours and call in at 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. to report in and out of work. The third-grade Benbrook Elementary School teacher must be available to receive assignments by phone within the hour, according to the letter. The letter does not indicate an end date for home duty.   The district alleges Williams left campus without informing campus administration and did not sign out as required by campus protocols. District officials also allege Williams is not following the HISD instructional model, while Williams alleges HISD is asking her to violate special education laws. view article

Round Rock ISD welcomes Mike Brooks to the Bond team as the Executive Director of Bond Projects. He previously served the district as the Director of Maintenance. “I am honored to serve as Round Rock ISD’s new Executive Director of Bonds,” Brook said. “I’ve seen firsthand how well-planned and well-executed facilities projects directly support student learning and staff success.” view article

Educational aide Rebecca Ontivero is charged with a second-degree felony.  A teacher for Marfa Independent School District is accused of sexual misconduct with a student.  Rebecca Romijn Ontiveros, 25, was arrested and charged with improper relationship between educator and student, a second-degree felony punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison.  The offense includes sexual contact or sexually explicit communication with a student, regardless of the student’s age. view article

An Arp ISD elementary assistant principal and her son were arrested Monday following an investigation by the Arp Police Department. Police said Karla Florence was taken into custody and charged with failure to report and false report to a peace officer. Investigators say she failed to provide truthful information and did not meet her legal duty under Texas law to report knowledge of a felony offense while serving in her role as an educator. view article

The driver of the Leander ISD school bus that crashed earlier this month is no longer an employee of the district. A message sent to staff and families of Bagdad Elementary School on Tuesday said that the driver, Tim Gall, was cited by Texas DPS for failure to drive in a single land and improper use of a seatbelt, though the investigation into the crash found no criminal wrongdoing on Gall's behalf. The message then said that Gall "is no longer employed" with the district. view article

School officials announce that the Leander Independent School District bus driver involved in a rollover crash is no longer employed with the district. view article

Temple students and staff are now in their second week back to school. Before the school year started, Superintendent Dr. Bobby Ott told us 107 new teachers joined the district this year- a good amount of them are alumni! We caught up with two alumni teachers at Raye-Allen Elementary School. Alex Curtis teaches 5th grade English and is in her first year teaching. Pam Bulls teaches 3rd grade math and science and has spent more than 35 years educating. view article

Across Texas, 1 in 6 teachers didn’t return to teach in 2024-25. In Houston ISD, it was nearly 1 of 3. The state's largest school district had a turnover rate of 32.2% compared with the statewide average of 18.8% in 2024-25, according to new Texas Education Agency data obtained by the Houston Chronicle.  HISD's teacher turnover rate increased 12.5 percentage points in 2024-25 after a large exodus of teachers following the first year under state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles. Nearly a third of teachers who taught in 2023-24 did not return to teach in 2024-25, pushing the district's turnover rate significantly higher than the statewide rate. view article

State Ag employees told police they were wary of Sid Miller’s political consultant. Now he’s the agency’s chief of staff.  Todd Smith was Miller’s longtime political consultant when he admitted to soliciting bribes for licenses the agency typically issues for $100. Miller then put him on the payroll at $218,000 per year. view article

Roger Luna—a New Braunfels High School graduate—began Aug. 11. Luna has over 30 years of IT experience in the public and private sectors. He previously worked as a Database System Analysis at Comal ISD, according to the release.   As the Director of IT Operations, Luna will oversee a team responsible for the district’s network, infrastructure, systems administration, information systems and desktop support. He will also work with the Instructional Technology team, the release states. view article

The Independence School District announced that one of its employees has been placed on administrative leave pending a criminal investigation. ISD did not specify who the employee is or what role they serve in the district. Specific allegations are not known at this time, but the district said it takes the charges seriously and is working with law enforcement. view article

Teachers from “liberal” states who have relocated to Oklahoma and are seeking to work there must take a controversial new assessment, to be given for the first time today, that “keeps away woke indoctrinators,” according to Oklahoma’s top education official.  Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s superintendent for public instruction, told CNN that if applicants do not pass the test, they will not earn a teaching certificate to be able to teach in public schools in the state this school year, which begins for some Oklahoma districts on Monday. The superintendent’s office notified CNN on Friday that it had not yet been released as of noon, but that it was coming soon.  The decision to use the assessment, developed by PragerU, a conservative media company whose teaching materials are now approved for use in public schools in ten US states, opens a new front in the education culture wars just days before schools are to open their doors.  PragerU has been embraced by the political right for offering curriculums that champion ideas aligned with the Make America Great Again movement, but, despite what its name implies, is not an accredited university or education institution, and has long been subjected to accusations of spreading inaccurate information. view article

Oklahoma will require applicants for teacher jobs coming from California and New York to pass an exam that the Republican-dominated state’s top education official says is designed to safeguard against “radical leftist ideology,” but which opponents decry as a “MAGA loyalty test.”  Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s public schools superintendent, said Monday that any teacher coming from the two blue states will be required to pass an assessment exam administered by PragerU, an Oklahoma-based conservative nonprofit, before getting a state certification.  “As long as I am superintendent, Oklahoma classrooms will be safeguarded from the radical leftist ideology fostered in places like California and New York,” Walters said in a statement.  PragerU, short for Prager University, puts out short videos with a conservative perspective on politics and economics. It promotes itself as “focused on changing minds through the creative use of digital media.” view article

(The Center Square) – Two years after being taken over by the state, zero Houston Independent School District schools have received an F-rating by the state.  The Texas Education Agency accountability ratings grade schools (A-F) according to a number of factors. A large number of HISD schools have historically failed, receiving D and F ratings for the year.  Students not only report failing grades and can’t read or do math at their grade level, but high school graduation rates are also low.  The district has also been plagued for years by corruption and mismanagement of public funds. After HISD officials were convicted for bribery, extortion and kickbacks, the state moved to take over the district.  After a long legal battle, the state took over the district in 2023, ousted its former superintendent and board of trustees and appointed a new board of managers and new superintendent, Mike Miles.  Under Miles, HISD has transformed. According to new preliminary TEA data, no HISD school received an F grade and the number of schools that received A and B grades tripled.  In the past two years, “We did great. You did great teachers. You did great students,” Miles said in an “HISD Now” public announcement. view article

The Clint Independent School District on Thursday approved pay raises and a one-time $2,500 payment for qualifying employees during the upcoming school year. view article

Across the nation, school districts are having a hard time keeping and hiring bus drivers. One local school district, Comal ISD, is becoming greatly effected. As one of the fastest growing and largest districts in the San Antonio area, the district covers over 500 square miles in five different counties with over 27,000 students attending. view article

Brenham ISD Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Eliot Allen has accepted a position with a new school district. Brenham ISD announced this (Thursday) afternoon that Allen has been selected as Director of Athletics for Bastrop ISD. He will begin his new position next week. view article

A longtime Lake Highlands High School resource officer has died due to complications from COVID-19, the Lake Highlands Advocate reported. After experiencing breathing difficulties from the illness, Chris Gibson went to a hospital Sunday morning and died shortly after, the report said. Gibson, known as “Gibby,” made a lasting impression on his colleagues and people he knew and worked with in Richardson ISD schools and the Dallas Police Department, according to the report. view article

They say participation is strictly voluntary, but the Fort Worth Independent School District is offering a one-time $500 incentive to employees who get fully vaccinated against COVID. Administrators say the money is an ‘effort to provide safe and healthy environments for students, staff and visitors’. view article

The Victoria I.S.D. Board of Trustees has approved the hiring of Anita Taylor as the new Executive Director of Strategic Planning and School Improvement for the district. The Curriculum, Instruction, and Accountability (CIA) department underwent a restructuring that consolidated positions resulting in creating the Executive Director of Strategic Planning and School Improvement. The total number of positions within the CIA department has decreased, allowing for efficient departmental workflow. view article

When Midland ISD leaders approved the salary schedule earlier this month, they increased a starting teacher’s salary that was the highest in the region. The starting teacher at Midland ISD during the 2020-21 school year made $56,500. That was the highest of all districts in a report that the district offered the Reporter-Telegram. Other districts included Ector County ($54,250), Andrews ($53,500), the entire El Paso region, Amarillo ($50,258) and Lubbock ($45,000). view article

Katy ISD’s Mayde Creek High School Principal, Ronnie Edwards was appointed as the District’s new Assistant Superintendent for School Leadership and Support. view article

East Texas Now host Jeremy G. Butler was joined by Longview ISD human relations director, Shalona McCray, and multimedia director, Elizabeth Ross, speaking about their upcoming job fair. McCray called the CareerFest a “job fair with a little more flair”. view article

Students at Eanes ISD’s Cedar Creek Elementary School will begin the 2021-22 school year with a new principal. The EISD Board of Trustees unanimously approved Laura Coaxum as the CCE principal during an April 27 board meeting. view article

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

Grapevine-Colleyville ISD has lost the beloved leader of its fine arts program. David Zahrndt, 46, who was director of fine arts for the district, died March 6, according to the district. “This past weekend, GCISD Director of Fine Arts David Zahrndt passed away unexpectedly,” the GCISD tweeted last Thursday. view article

Longview ISD assistant principal earns state honor

March 1108:25 AM

 

Longview ISD's Mrs. Christi Coleman has been named 2021 Region VII Elementary Assistant Principal of the Year by the Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association (TEPSA). Mrs. Coleman is in her 26th year in education and truly has a heart for her students and colleagues. As a teacher, she taught on the elementary and junior high levels, as well as special education. "This award is truly a testament to the hard work and dedication of the professionals that surround me, along with the great things that are taking place to help students at Hudson PEP," she said. "I am incredibly grateful to work with students and staff who inspire me and I am proud to be part of the Hudson PEP family." view article

Bryan ISD's Board of Trustees have approved a one-time $500 supplement for their salaried employees. Teachers, counselors, librarians, nurses, administrators and professional staff receive their pay bonus on their Dec 15 paycheck. view article

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A Hill Country Middle School teacher in the Eanes Independent School District got a special sendoff Thursday afternoon. Pam Fletcher-Friday has taught theatre at the middle school for more than 30 years. She’s preparing to retire soon, so the district wanted to honor her with a parade. view article

The union for Austin Independent School District employees is asking the district and the state not to send employees back to school buildings in August. Union members say it is unsafe for employees and children to be in classes together. During an online news conference Wednesday, Education Austin President Ken Zarifis said the union is asking AISD to commit to online learning only for the first nine weeks of the semester, while monitoring Covid-19 cases in the city. He also asked that increased pay for employees like cafeteria workers and other support staff continue. view article

Third grade teacher Skylar Slaughter and seventh grade teacher Zelma Nico are the elementary and secondary “Teachers of the Year” for 2020-21 in the Port Arthur Independent School District. Slaughter is an English and language arts, or ELAR, teacher at Staff Sgt. Lucian Adams Elementary and Nico is a math teacher at Thomas Jefferson Middle School. view article