Abilene ISD has fired a teacher's aide, suspended/reassigned a principal and placed a teacher on administrative leave over the "alleged mistreatment" of a special needs student. The District said in a news release Monday afternoon that it fired a teacher's aide at Craig Middle School for the "alleged mistreatment of a student under the aide’s supervision." Police said they were notified by Child Protective Services about the allegations on Oct. 31. view article

The Katy ISD Board of Trustees passed two measures related to busing services at its Dec. 16 meeting. The board also appointed principals to head Fielder Elementary at 2100 Greenway Village Drive, Katy and elementary #43 at 6631 Greenwood Orchard Drive, Katy. view article

Two longtime principals at Ysleta ISD schools passed away over the last week, leaving a lasting legacy for thousands of students across East El Paso. Sandra Whitney passed away Tuesday, December 10. Ms. Whitney served in many positions within Ysleta ISD, including teaching theater at Valley View Middle School before transitioning to school administration. She went on to serve as Assistant Principal at Eastwood Middle and Hillcrest Middle before becoming Principal at Vista Hills Elementary. view article

 Tidehaven ISD trustees unanimously approved $1,000 Christmas bonuses for all district employees at their regular meeting Monday night. “I think we are very fortunate and blessed at a good time to be able to give $1,000 across the board for our employees including our at-will employees,” said TISD Board President Stephen Crow. view article

In the wake of former El Campo ISD Food Services Director Scott Gelardi’s arrest on charges he placed a hidden camera in a Northside Elementary boys’ bathroom, the ECISD food services department is being run by an interim director. ECISD contracts food service employees through Aramark, a third-party contractor. view article

The Katy ISD board of trustees is expected to make some progress on Elementary School No. 43 on Monday, with the expected naming a new principal and naming the school’s new principal. The board is scheduled to meet at 5:30 p.m. Monday in regular session in the Board Room of the Katy ISD Education Support Complex at 5301 S. Stadium Lane in Katy. Following the call to order and open forum, the board is scheduled to enter into closed session to consult with its attorney, discuss the new principal at Elementary No. 43 and consider naming a principal at Fielder Elementary School. view article

A year before Fort Worth Independent School District fired Georgia Clark over her tweets asking President Donald Trump to “remove the illegals” from her school, former students recall her threatening to report them to the FBI and Secret Service after they criticized the president. “One day she did threaten us, ‘I'm calling the FBI or Secret Service’ or whatever. We were talking about the president,” said Rigoyosmar Ramirez, 19, who graduated from Amon Carter-Riverside High in May and said he was in Clark’s English class during the 2017-2018 school year. “She said, ‘If you even threaten our president, I can have the Secret Service investigate all of this and have you guys in custody and have y'all tried as adults.'” view article

Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) recently announced the state’s three finalists for the ‘Technology Administrator of the Year Award’ category and Dayton ISD’s Mrs. Suzanne Chachere is one of those three administrators. TCEA is a global, nonprofit, member-based organization supporting the use of technology in education. It was founded in 1980 and has grown to over 28,000 members. The TCEA mission is to advance teaching and learning through the use of technology. The TCEA Educator Awards ceremony will be held at the Hilton Austin hotel at 5:30 pm on Tuesday, February 4th. view article

G.W. Carver Middle School teacher Linnette Corrales moved from Arizona to Waco this year to participate in Transformation Waco’s alternative certification teacher program that recruits and trains future educators who need to obtain their teaching certificates. A native of the Mexican state of Sonora, directly south of the Arizona-Mexico border, Corrales immigrated to the United States to start a better life and enrolled at the University of Arizona, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She planned to become a child clinical psychologist, but she fell in love with education while studying psychology. She wanted to be able to help children without charging them. view article

For any student at Naaman Forest High School in Garland, having one year of perfect attendance is a remarkable achievement. But teachers here say what one senior has accomplished borders on the miraculous. “I know it’s true, but it’s hard to believe. It’s really hard to believe,” said teacher Karen Stanton. view article

Jo Jones is Cleveland ISD Teacher of the Week for the week ending Friday, Dec. 13. Jones is an English teacher for the District’s Disciplinary Alternative Education Program. She received her bachelor’s degree at the University of Houston-Victoria. She has taught at Cleveland ISD for six years. “Thank you, Ms. Jones, for all that you do for our students, staff, and district,” said Susan Ard, Cleveland ISD spokesperson. view article

A Beckville ISD teacher was arrested after the sheriff’s office investigated allegations that he had sent students explicit photos of himself. According to the Panola County Sheriff’s Office, Anthony D’Andre Moore, 31, was arrested on two counts of online solicitation of a minor. Moore is a teacher and coach at Beckville High School, according to an affidavit. view article

Katy ISD employees may be starting early holiday celebrations as they look at their pay stubs. The district announced via a Dec. 12 press release that all staff have received 1% lump sum payments in either their Dec. 6 or Dec. 13 pay. “I am beyond impressed and proud of our staff,” said Katy ISD Superintendent Ken Gregorski. “I could not ask for a more talented, skilled and dedicated group of individuals.”  view article

The Leander ISD board of trustees voted to hire two principals at its Dec. 12 meeting. Josh Haug will be the new principal of Leander Middle School, while Shanita Kozlowski as the new principal of Naumann Elementary School. view article

Creek View Elementary teacher Julie Wester was recently named Texas Farm Bureau’s 2019 Agriculture in the Classroom Outstanding Teacher. view article

Students and staff at Southside High School are mourning the death of a teacher who passed away this week. Social studies teacher, Mr. William Carle, died at a hospital after collapsing in his classroom on Tuesday."He was always thoughtful of others. He always pushed others and everybody loved him. He was just that person that you always saw a happy face. You couldn't wait to get to his class because he always had stories to tell you," said Albert Terrazas, a former student. view article

Sabine ISD board members congratulated and recognized Sabine High School Head Volleyball Coach Kristen Reaves at a regular board meeting Monday night. Reaves has been named Volleyball Coach of the Year for her district.  “As all of you know, we had an outstanding volleyball season this year,” said SISD Superintendent Stacey Bryce. view article

Carla Amacher, area superintendent for Round Rock ISD, was named one of two recipients of the Texas Association of School Administrators' Johnny L. Veselka Scholarship, according to a Dec. 11 Round Rock ISD news release. The Johnny L. Veselka Scholarship recognizes "outstanding doctoral students pursuing careers in educational leadership, with particular emphasis on the superintendency," per the release. view article

El Paso ISD officials this week announced the appointment of Cynthia Luna as the permanent principal at Jefferson High School and Maxine Silva Health Magnet High School. Luna, who until recently served as assistant principal at Transmountain Early College High School, began her tenure at Jefferson/Silva this week. view article

A Kingwood High School alum and teacher was awarded for excellence in his teaching career by the Texas Council for the Social Studies. Bryan Henry, currently a Lone Star College-University Park assistant professor of political science and a candidate for the Texas House of Representatives for District 130, was a teacher for nine years in Humble ISD. The Texas Council for Social Studies awarded Henry the Teacher of the Year Award at the Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin on Nov. 22 as he was leaving his high school career to go on into higher education. view article

Manor Independent School District families will get to tell district leaders what qualities they’re looking for in a new police chief on Thursday. This comes after a unanimous vote from the school board to create the district’s very first police department. view article

The Fort Worth ISD school board voted Tuesday night to appeal the Texas Education Agency's ruling that would allow Georgia Clark to return to the district. Last month, the Texas Education Commissioner ruled that Georgia Clark could keep her job. The FWISD school board voted in June to fire Clark, an English teacher at Carter-Riverside High School, for tweeting to President Donald Trump that her school was full of students who were in the country illegally. view article

Dallas ISD Librarian Recognized As One Of The Top 10 In The Country Tracie Walker-Reed, library media specialist at H. Grady Spruce High School in Dallas, is a winner of this year's I Love My Librarian Award. Recognized for her leadership in her school and commitment to transforming lives, she is one of only 10 librarians in the country to receive this national honor. Walker-Reed's nominators highlighted her 1:1 tutoring and mentoring of at-risk and low-income students and her invaluable support of H. Grady Spruce High School's learning process through instruction, technology support and access to print and digital library books. view article

Amarillo ISD will partner with Amarillo College and Texas Tech University on a 2 + 1 teacher certification program that will put additional teachers in AISD classrooms as soon as the 2021-2022 school year. The 2 + 1 Teacher Certification Program fast tracks students from college to classroom in three years. After earning an associate degree from Amarillo College, students could then enroll in a one calendar year intensive teacher certification program from Texas Tech. Students who complete the program and pass the content exam would graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Texas Tech and full teacher certification. view article

On Monday, Sulphur Springs Independent School Board of Trustees gave approval for nine personnel decisions and appointed a school representative to the appraisal board. Mike Horne, who has been representing the school district on Hopkins County Appraisal District Board of Directors, was contacted and agreed to serve another term, school officials told trustees. SSISD trustees at their regular December meeting, held at 11:30 a.m. Dec. 9, unanimously approved the motion by John Prickette and seconded by Craig Johnson for Horne to serve from Jan. 1, 2020 through Dec. 31, 2021. view article

West Brazos Junior High’s principal was placed on administrative leave and agreed to resign following complaints by multiple employees that he had made unprofessional comments toward them, according to documents provided by Columbia-Brazoria ISD. Alfred Black is on paid administrative leave until March 14, according to his resignation letter, but has not been on campus as principal since Nov. 4, the same day employees’ complaints were brought to administration, Superintendent Steven Galloway said. view article

Killeen Police has received information about a former teacher’s aide from Gateway High School allegedly engaged in an improper relationship with a student. Through this investigation, detectives with the Criminal Investigation Division’s Special Victims Unit discovered 37-year-old Louisa Theresa Hernandez had an improper relationship with a student during the 2018-2019 school year. This case was reviewed by the Bell County District Attorney’s Office, and a complaint was returned Monday charging Hernandez with an Improper Relationship between Educator and Student. view article

We’ve all had to take days off when feeling under the weather; however, what happens when teachers have exhausted their days and have a severe illness that needs to be taken care of? A local school district is working to change its policy so every staff and faculty member can receive the time they need to recover. view article

The Killeen Police Department is reporting that a former Killeen ISD teacher’s aide has been arrested over accusations that she had an improper relationship with a student. According to detectives, Louisa Theresa Hernandez, 37, faces an improper relationship between educator and student charge, after a complaint of a relationship during the 2018-19 school year. view article

Fort Worth school officials are appealing a ruling that reinstated an English teacher who was fired after she asked President Donald Trump on Twitter to crack down on immigration at Carter-Riverside High School.  At a Fort Worth Independent School District meeting Tuesday night, the school board voted unanimously to appeal the Texas Education Agency decision to district court.  In May, former teacher Georgia Clark’s tweets ignited a national backlash.  In June, Superintendent Kent P. Scribner recommended Clark be terminated for using racially insensitive language and abusing social media. The school board unanimously agreed and she was placed on leave. On Sept. 26, Clark’s contract was officially terminated.  However, Clark appealed her termination. view article

The arrest affidavit of James Lee Harper details the allegation against the former Harker Heights High School teacher. According to a Bell County Sheriff’s Deputy, a 17-year-old girl claimed Harper touched her inappropriately while they were at Belton Lake on August 2nd, 2019. She says he did it again when they were at a Copperas Cove home later that night. view article

At November's Taylor ISD school board meeting, former employee John Wuensche addressed the board in regard to a Level III grievance of harassment and wrongful termination that was filed. The grievance was filed in August. The district has released a statement that supports the decision to part ways with Wuensche.  view article

Nearly half – 49% – of public schools in the United States have at least one School Resource Officer on campus. The primary basic training course, taken in the first year on the job and provided by the National Association of School Resource Officers, is 40 hours and focuses on their role as law enforcement officers in a school, de-escalation tactics and some information on mentoring students. view article

New Braunfels ISD began making security upgrades across all campuses this year, and the new position of director of safety and security will work with administration officials to make safety procedures stronger, Superintendent Randy Moczygemba said.  The new director, Jay Huffty, graduated from the East Texas Police Academy in 1993 and served as a police officer for 10 years. In 2003, Huffty earned his master's degree in education with a focus in special education. He obtained his superintendent certification in 2015. view article

The Abilene Independent School District welcomed its latest class of retirees Thursday morning to the Abilene Convention Center for its annual luncheon. There, current administrators served lunch for those who came before them. Superintendent David Young carried plates out to those who stepped away from the profession both a few months ago and a few decades. view article