Dr. Kade Griffin has been selected as the next principal of La Porte High School.   The Board of Trustees unanimously approved the appointment on Tuesday. Dr. Griffin’s official start date is this summer, though he will spend time on the La Porte High School campus prior to then so that he can meet the staff and students.   Dr. Griffin will succeed Carlin Grammer, who recently announced his retirement. The district has already begun its search for his successor at Lomax Jr. High School, where he has successfully served as principal for the past six years. view article

Kedria Grigsby, 42, a cosmetology teacher at Klein Cain High School was arrested Monday, according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, via X (formerly known as Twitter), along with her son, Roger Magee, 21. The latter was arrested back in November 2022 for trafficking and prostitution. view article

Paris ISD names new principal for 2024-25 at Justiss Elementary School - Dustin Smyers has been named by the Paris Independent School District as principal at Justiss Elementary School for the 2024-2025 school year, following the retirement of Renee Elmore. Elmore plans to retire from Paris ISD at the end of this school year, with 20 years in the district and 18 years as an assistant principal and principal at Justiss Elementary. Having dedicated two decades to the district, with the majority of her tenure as principal, Elmore’s leadership style has been instrumental in fostering a nurturing environment where students not only succeed academically but are also encouraged to pursue their dreams. view article

Arlington ISD is poised to cut 275 jobs as the expiration of COVID lockdown-era relief funds looms. The nearly 300 soon-to-be eliminated positions have been subsidized through Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds, a taxpayer-funded program that assisted schools during the lockdowns, reported The Texan. view article

An employee with the Rio Grande City Grulla school district was arrested Wednesday and accused of faking an injury on school grounds to obtain workers' compensation, records show. An affidavit released to Channel 5 News shows Yadira Montalvo was charged with fraud to obtain workers' comp following an investigation from the district’s police department. view article

As district administrators are crafting a budget for fiscal year 2024-25, they said they are looking for ways to improve compensation for all employees. A new report on compensation from the Texas Association of School Boards has revealed where the district can improve compensation to be more competitive with other area districts to retain more employees. At the same time, they are working to reduce the shortfall projected for the upcoming fiscal year. view article

Eanes ISD’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisory committee has been making strides to increase cultural awareness across the district, despite pushback that is occurring at the higher-education level. DEI committee co-facilitators Dianne Parks, West Ridge Middle School principal, and Monique Payne-Pikus, a West Ridge parent, provided updates on what the committee has implemented throughout the past year during the regular board of trustees meeting March 26. A closer look The 31-member DEI advisory committee consists of parents, students, staff and community members who work to enhance racial, religious, gender, culture, ability and economic awareness through meetings, events and conversation. view article

Dallas school leaders expect to cut central staff positions ― while also raising teacher salaries — as they build a budget that accounts for enrollment declines and stagnant state funding. Some campus teaching positions in classes that are under-enrolled will be cut, though a specific figure was not presented during a Tuesday budget workshop. view article

As district administrators are crafting a budget for fiscal year 2024-25, they said they are looking for ways to improve compensation for all employees. A new report on compensation from the Texas Association of School Boards has revealed where the district can improve compensation to be more competitive with other area districts to retain more employees. At the same time, they are working to reduce the shortfall projected for the upcoming fiscal year. view article

Last year, the number of students who received a zero on their State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) writing questions raised an alarm among educators. The cause for concern stemmed from the new changes to the test, such as online testing and new types of questions. The new STAAR 2.0 redesign also indicates a shift toward machine-driven evaluation and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the education sector. This has led to debates among teachers about transparency, algorithm bias, and the impact of these changes on both teaching and learning. They also consider that automated scoring may lead to the widening of inequities in education, as such scoring methods are dependent on data. view article

With budget challenges ahead, the Austin Independent School District (AISD) is focused on which positions it can eliminate. District leaders gave the community and Board of Trustees a preliminary 2024-25 budget with a potential $60 million deficit looming. During Thursday night's meeting, Austin ISD officials said their first goal is to reduce and cut expenditures by $30 million. While the cuts would not lead to a balanced budget, officials said it would get them closer to where the district feels "comfortable." view article

Dallas city voters may be asked to consider approving ranked-choice voting for future municipal elections, even though the controversial process is not allowed by state law. Ranked-choice voting is among dozens of city charter changes under consideration by a 15-member Charter Review Commission that could show up on Dallas voters’ November ballot. The charter amendment was suggested by commission member David de la Fuente, who represents District 1. His amendment proposes switching the City of Dallas “away from a runoff system to a ranked choice voting system once state law permits.” According to de la Fuente, his proposed charter language is identical to what the City of Austin put in its city charter “after vetting by their attorneys and approval by their voters.” view article

Houston ISD officials plan to reduce or remove several stipends for extra work of up to $2,500 for district employees in the 2024-25 academic year, according to its proposed compensation plan. HISD released its compensation plan for the upcoming school year in early March, outlining the annual base salaries for all of the district’s employees and the incentives and stipends they are eligible to earn. The district offers stipends for duties that are unrelated to an employee’s primary job, such as working days outside of their normal schedule. While many stipends will remain next year, the district no longer lists stipends for several positions, including academic coaches, teacher mentors, speech and debate sponsors and department chairs. view article

Pay for all Plano ISD staffers is going up. view article

Plano ISD trustees unanimously approved a plan to give teachers raises starting next school year. The recommendation includes a 3 percent bump in salaries. It will also begin new teacher pay at $61,000 and compress the salary schedule, which dictates how much teachers make based on their experience. view article

The Academy Independent School District has announced its new Assistant Superintendent. The appointment of Dr. Calvin Itz was announced early Wednesday afternoon. The district says he has an extensive educational leadership and human resources background, in addition to a wealth of experience and a dedication to fostering excellence in education view article

School districts around Houston are preparing to recruit more staff as the 2023-24 school year nears an end. Several districts hosted career fairs in March, including Conroe ISD — which saw 800 attendees during its career fair on March 23, said Sarah Blakelock, executive director of communications for the district. view article

Lubbock ISD is hosting their annual Job Fair this weekend and job seekers are invited to attend. District campuses and departments will be represented at the event to provide information about a variety of job opportunities. The event is not just for teachers; it includes all open positions in Lubbock ISD and with their contracted partners. view article

Even as the Brownsville Independent School District trumpets $10 million to be paid to teachers through the Texas Education Agency’s Teacher Incentive Allotment, some teachers are questioning TEA’s system for distributing the funds. In a March 11 news release, Brownsville ISD stated that TEA had awarded new Teacher Incentive Allotments to 778 BISD teachers, bringing the number covered by the excellence program from 32 to 810. view article

On Sept. 6, 2022, a 5-year-old boy, enrolled in an Early Childhood Special Education class, was in the school gymnasium when he became upset and left the gym after he opted not to participate in a game other students were playing, charging documents read. Hall reportedly followed the boy and found him lying on the floor, kicking, screaming and cursing. She grabbed him by the ankles and pulled him on his back down the hallways, documents read. view article

Education has always played an important role in Dallas ISD Police Chief Albert Martinez’s life. Now, in his new role as the top police officer for the district, he is combining his support for education with his passion for serving others. While growing up, education was strongly emphasized by his mother, who was born and raised in Mexico and who didn’t have the same educational opportunities available to him, so it was always something she pushed, he said. view article

Neches Independent School District informed Lady Tigers Head Basketball Coach Andy Snider last week that he will be reassigned, effectively ending the three time State Champion coaches 16-year tenure at the helm of the Lady Tigers program. In his time with the Lady Tigers, Snider posted a career record of 368-155. Coach Snider has led the Lady Tigers to four state championship games in his 16-year career, going 3-1 in said games, including three consecutive State Championships from 2011-13. Snider has also led Neches to the regional tournament 11 times, and the state tournament eight times. view article

From the countryside, the big city, and traveling the world, Brianna Young seems to standout wherever she goes. Her sincere and accepting nature is a people magnet, helping shape the leader she is today at Judson ISD Early College Academy. In fact when the Principal is gone, they call on Young to lead the campus. view article

Houston Public Media obtained correspondence showing concerns raised by state education staffers about Houston ISD’s rushed rollout of a deeply controversial performance evaluation system for educators. According to experts, the messages call further into question the systems that will determine which teachers and principals are removed from their schools. view article

A former Cy-Fair ISD staff member will spend nine years in prison for inappropriately touching an 18-year-old Life Skills student, according to court documents. Ennis Hernandez pleaded guilty to inducing a child into sexual performance and having an improper relationship with a student. In each case, he was sentenced to nine years, but both sentences must be served concurrently. view article

A Caddo Mills ISD employee has been arrested and charged with possession of child pornography, according to the district. The employee, Sean Day, worked in the district warehouse overseeing custodians and did not supervise any students. view article

Ennis Hernandez, the former Cy-Fair ISD paraprofessional who was found to be inappropriately touching a student at the school he worked at, has been sentenced. Hernandez was sentenced to nine years in Harris County Jail after being charged with having an improper relationship with a student and the sexual performance of a child. view article

Retaining teachers and staff, while also facing the possibility of adopting a deficit budget, remained the theme during the Kerrville Independent School District Board of Trustees meeting Monday night, with trustees hearing about expanded Teacher Incentive Allotment potential, ongoing recruitment efforts and aggressive plans to balance the 2024-2025 year budget. view article

It was a packed house at the Morton ISD school board meeting on Wednesday as trustees discussed the status of Head Basketball Coach Zack Williams. But after several hours, the board decided to table the decision. Several people reached out to KCBD after hearing rumors the school board would be making a change to Coach Williams’ position, possibly moving him to assistant coach. view article

The Lewisville ISD board of trustees appointed Will Skelton as the district’s new chief of high schools on March 18. Skelton takes over for Andy Plunkett, who recently announced his retirement after 29 years of service, according to a district news release. view article

About 275 staffers in the Arlington Independent School District will be out of a job at the end of the school year as the district cuts positions funded by expiring ESSER grants. ESSER funds are U.S. Department of Education dollars distributed through three Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief grant programs. The last COVID-era ESSER grant is being sunset this year. view article

Boyd Elementary School will be under new leadership beginning in the 2024-25 school year. During the regular scheduled monthly meeting of the Boyd ISD school board Monday, trustees voted 6-0 to approve the hiring of Jana Clark as the new elementary principal. Trustee Bill Childress was absent. view article

At Northwest ISD’s board meeting Monday night — the first since fake bomb threats targeted a middle school teacher’s home and her campus last week — parents not only defended the teacher harassed and victimized, but also praised the district for defending her.  “Party politics, personal opinions and any biases have no room in the classroom … and with a strong board we have voted in,” said Brandi Romero.  Last week’s phony bomb scare followed online attacks posted by the conservative Libs of TikTok. They targeted a Medlin Middle School teacher who serves as the campus’ gay-straight alliance adviser. She also supports the Trevor Project, a nonprofit created to prevent suicides among LGBTQ+ youth. view article

The City of San Antonio will explore policy and program options that incentivize teachers to buy homes within city limits. City Council’s Governance Committee, often the first step for council member-initiated programs, unanimously agreed to forward the idea to the Planning and Community Development Committee and have city staff review the structure and funding options.  It calls for the city to expand its current down payment and homeowner assistance programs to include one that “early childhood instructors, K-12 teachers in public schools and other public school support personnel” would qualify for. view article

At the monthly school board meeting on Thursday, the 10 state appointees who lead Houston ISD faced nearly 150 members of the public — each limited to one-minute comments, delivered over the course of about three hours. The message was almost universal, and it appears to have resonated with the state-appointed leaders to some degree. view article