Huckabee | Architecture | Engineering | Management

Texas senators on Wednesday unanimously approved Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s agenda on property tax cuts this legislative session, which would pump billions of state dollars into public schools and give bigger tax breaks for homeowners and business owners. “This is off-the-charts, incredible property tax relief for millions of Texas homeowners,” said state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican and Patrick’s point person on property taxes. Before the session started, Republican leaders made it clear they wanted the Legislature to use part of a historic state surplus of nearly $33 billion to bring down property taxes. Patrick’s $16.5 billion package — contained in three separate priority bills — is the Senate’s proposal on how to do it. view article arw

All students who were hospitalized in a Mineola ISD bus crash has been treated and released, according to an update from the school district. Eight people, including six students, were hospitalized following a school bus crash Monday morning. According to Mineola Independent School District, around 7:15 a.m., a Mineola bus was carrying 12 students when it was involved in a crash with another vehicle on Loop 564, north of the primary and middle school campuses. view article arw

A scammer stole more than $269,000 from the Juneau School District last fall. City and Borough of Juneau Finance Director Jeff Rogers outlined the incident in a memo shared with the Assembly Finance Committee during its meeting Wednesday. He said someone claiming to be one of the district’s vendors asked to change their banking information. They used a “spoofed email address that varied slightly from the vendor’s last known email address,” according to the memo. view article arw

Austin ISD trustees approved emergency purchases for an estimated $845,446 worth of damages related to Winter Storm Mara. Nayeli Santoyo, AISD media relations specialist, said the number is an estimate of what the district has seen so far. The authorization given to school officials for the emergency purchases will last for six months and can be made using general funds, or disaster relief funds if those become available, according to AISD Executive Director of Construction Management Michael Mann. view article arw

Anna ISD says three students were arrested. view article arw

A message from Greg Bower – Como and Pickton Communities. I’m am saddened to report that much of our Pickton community received damage from today’s tornado. I am ordering school closed tomorrow. Our students and staff living in that area does not need to worry about getting to school when they have greater worries on their minds. Extra-Curricular activities will continue as scheduled. Your child’s coaches will reach out to you with more specific information as needed. If you want to keep your child at home from those activities, just let your child’s coach know and there will be no problems view article arw

An Aldine ISD police officer discharged his firearm Wednesday evening after the Harris County Sheriff's Office said a fight broke out following a game at Davis High School. The officer was prompted to fire shots after a person brandished a gun, according to the sheriff's office said. The male left the scene in a vehicle and was later found. view article arw

An Alba-Golden ISD school bus that was on the way to a UIL academic meet was in a head-on crash Saturday morning. The wreck took place at about 6:30 a.m. in the 800 block of FM 17 just north of Grand Saline. A white Hyundai Elantra crossed the center line of the road and struck the bus on the front left, DPS Sgt. Adam Albritton said. First responders arrived on scene quickly, and the crash has now been cleared. view article arw

A Killeen Independent School District bus causes a crash in Harker Heights. An officer of the Harker Heights Police Department’s Traffic Unit responded around 7:29 a.m. Thursday to a vehicle accident. The accident occurred at the intersection of FM-2410 and Cedar Knob Road. view article arw

SCHOOL INSURANCE NEWSLETTER

January 3005:00 AM
 

Reinsurers insure insurers, and Jan. 1 is the most important date for reinsurers to renew and adjust pricing of 12-month policies in light of major economic or geopolitical changes, such as the war in Ukraine, which broke out last February. Reinsurers have suffered sharp losses from the conflict and from natural catastrophes such as Hurricane Ian in Florida, which broker Howden described as the second most expensive natural catastrophe ever in terms of insured losses.” Renewal Changes view article arw

Showers, storms, strong winds and tornadoes ripped through the Houston area Tuesday causing widespread damage. The hardest hit areas were Pasadena and Deer Park after a tornado ripped through the areas. The damage will take days to clean up. Some districts canceled classes Wednesday because of storm damage. view article arw

A second Stephen F. Austin State University student-athlete has died from injuries suffered in a two-vehicle crash Friday afternoon on U.S. Highway 59 just north of Corrigan, according to a statement from the SFA Athletic Department. Wide receiver Graylan Paul Spring, 19, of Austin, was flown by helicopter Friday in critical condition to HCA Houston Healthcare Conroe, according to a press release from the Corrigan Police Department. He died Saturday night, his mother said in a social media post. Former SFA baseball team member Micah Alan McAfoose, 18, of Cypress, “succumbed to his injuries on impact,” according to the release. A candlelight vigil is set for 7:30 p.m. Monday at Homer Bryce Stadium in Nacogdoches, and all are welcome to attend. view article arw

to conditioning his body to perform the way the sport demands. That’s why when he couldn’t complete a full push-up on the second day of an intense athletic period he knew something wasn’t quite right. The following day Gavin’s muscles were so sore he couldn’t lift his arms, said Michelle Hurd, Gavin’s mother. view article arw

“Global insurers face a testing 2023 as reinsurers hike rates on key business lines by as much as 200% from Jan. 1 and pull back from underwriting risk in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, reinsurance brokers' reports showed Tuesday. view article arw

One person was critically injured and three others were hurt in an electrical incident that occurred while demolishing a part of Keller ISD's Parkview Elementary School Monday morning, officials say. Parkview Elementary, located at 6900 Bayberry Drive in Fort Worth, is undergoing a three-phase renovation project that includes the demolition of part of the old school building. view article arw

The Dallas Independent School District is welcoming students back to two campuses that were destroyed by a tornado in 2019. The move is very nostalgic for students who were freshmen at Thomas Jefferson High School in 2019 when the tornado hit. They are now seniors. The storm badly damaged the building and students had to relocate to the former Thomas Edison Middle School, which is 10 miles away. view article arw

Nearly a dozen children were hospitalized Wednesday in Collin County after a pickup truck crashed into the back of a Farmersville ISD school bus, state troopers say. view article arw

ADRIAN, Texas — Adrian ISD is closed Thursday due to a "busted water line." According to the school district, the city is working to fix it ASAP and school will resume Friday. "We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause," said Adrian ISD. On Wednesday, the city said water pressure may be low for a while and asked everyone to keep water use to a minimum. "Everything is being done to fix the problem," said the city. view article arw

Damages from the recent arctic blast forced Bartlett ISD to push the start of school two days back. Originally, the first day was supposed to be Tuesday, but now the district announced students will be back on Thursday. The arctic blast caused a hot water line to burst in the school cafeteria kitchen. Since then, crews have been cleaning up the damaged insulation inside the walls. District superintendent estimates Theodore Clevenger estimates the water line burst will cost the district thousands. Clevenger said the cafeteria and kitchen had about an inch of water.

A fifth grade Lumberton Independent School District student reported "vulgar" language in the STAAR reading test last month, according to information from LISD.  view article arw

Vidor ISD superintendent Jay Killgo estimates the district has $12-13 million in damages from Harvey. Both Oak Forest Elementary and Vidor Middle School are unusable right now. Those students are going elsewhere, which is overcrowding some schools. view article arw

Burnet school district officials were probably expecting to get more than two years from the synthetic turf installed at Bulldog Field in 2015, but that didn’t happen and it’s now set the district back $150,000. Burnet Consolidated Independent School District Superintendent Keith McBurnett, however, said the district is looking to get $105,000 back from one manufacturer. Last year, officials noticed some turf fibers sticking up higher than others, so they took a closer look, McBurnett said. “To most people, it probably wasn’t noticeable,” he said. “We had all the experts look at the field, and they looked at the backside. It needed to be replaced.” view article arw

North American Solutions (NAS), a leading provider of insurance and risk management services for public entities, is excited to announce that Michelle Faust, currently Director, Safety & Risk Management at Round Rock ISD, will be joining the NAS team in January. view article arw

A teen who was severely bruised in a "brutal and excessive" nightstick attack by a Pasadena ISD school resource officer has settled his federal lawsuit for $60,000. Cesar Suquet Jr. was 16 in May 2014 when he went to the principal's office at South Houston High School to retrieve his cell phone, which had been confiscated earlier that day. His request was declined and he was told to leave. view article arw

Garland ISD was one of just 10 districts statewide recently honored by The Texas Association of School Boards (TASB). The district’s Risk Management Department earned a 2015 TASB Risk Management Fund Innovation Award for its creative safety video campaign. view article arw

Abilene ISD board approved the bid on Monday evening at its agenda review meeting. Construction coordinator for the district, Joe Humphrey, says Martinez Elementary took the brunt of the storm. view article arw

Three students from Stehlik Intermediate School in the Aldine Independent School District were taken to an area hospital Tuesday morning after a minor collision with a cement mixer. The wreck happened about 8 a.m. on West Road at Deer Trail Drive as the bus was transporting students to the school at 400 West Road, a school district spokeswoman said. The school is just west of Interstate 45. view article arw