Georgetown ISD-issued devices are no longer allowed to host any apps owned by ByteDance, the China-based owner of apps TikTok and Lemon8, after trustees approved a policy update barring the use of the apps on devices like those issued to students and teachers. view article

Interim Superintendent Karen Molinar admitted Fort Worth ISD failed its teachers in recent weeks after a contract lapse left 29 campuses without functional printers and copiers, disrupting classroom instruction and sparking frustration among educators. District administrators faced a barrage of questions from trustees about the issue during a Nov. 12 board meeting. Most expressed dismay over the technology department’s handling of the situation and its impact on daily operations across the district. view article

A Massachusetts family is awaiting a judge’s ruling in a federal lawsuit that could determine their son’s future. To a few observers, it could also push educators to limit the use of generative artificial intelligence in school. view article

Belton ISD has announced a new cell phone policy set to take effect in January 2025, aimed at curbing social media usage in schools. The policy was developed with input from over 1,800 parents and nearly 400 teachers, creating a three-pronged approach that varies slightly between elementary, middle and high schools. view article

Normangee ISD has terminated an employee initially placed on administrative leave over allegations of inappropriate behavior with a student, according to new documents released Friday. To protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation, KBTX has decided not to identify the employee involved until formal charges are filed. view article

How Schools Across America Are Struggling With AI Deepfakes view article

As the upcoming legislative session draws closer, speakers at the latest House hearing on cybersecurity urged lawmakers to take threats more seriously. view article

Seven states passed laws prohibiting cellphone use during instruction time or requiring districts to impose restrictions at the local level. view article

The Abilene ISD school board met for a workshop this afternoon. One of the topics of discussion was the high school cell phone policy. Principals brought up concerns, including the ability to enforce a cell phone ban during passing periods and lunch. The Cooper High School Principal, Lyndsey Williamson, pitched an idea to the board. view article

When it comes to a teenager and their phone, it's like taking away their breath when you take away their phone. I swear that it's somehow attached to them physically. Right before school started this year Amarillo ISD said they were going to start enforcing the cell phone policy. Read More: Amarillo ISD Cell Phone Policy is Enforced: Ask Me How I Know | https://thebullamarillo.com/aisd-phone-policy-enforced/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral view article

School officials at Wilson ISD are aiming to cut down on distractions in the classroom with a no-phone policy. Affective this week, the school district said it wants to reduce classroom distractions among high school students following complaints from teachers. view article

Tomball ISD has partnered with an education software company to pilot an artificial intelligence tool for teachers to use to build classroom content, according to a Sept. 26 news release from the district. TISD will be the first school district in Texas to pilot PowerBuddy, an AI program from K-12 education software company PowerSchool, according to the release. The AI program has two program segments: PowerBuddy for Learning and PowerBuddy for Custom AI. view article

Coppell's school district will vote Monday on whether to close its oldest elementary school due to budget concerns fueled by declining enrollment since the pandemic. Both trustees and members of the school community fought back tears at a public meeting earlier this month as they discussed the proposed closure of Pinkerton Elementary School, which opened in 1928 and which they said served generations of families. view article

Monday, another North Texas school district could decide whether or not to close schools to save money. However, some parents and students in Coppell ISD are speaking out and planning multiple protests for Monday ahead of an important school board meeting. Hand-painted signs blanket the floor at Julie Waters' Coppell's home. "The state gives the school district $43 a day for the children's attendance, so that's why our children are wearing these shirts because that's what they've been reduced to, a dollar amount, and it's so much more than that," said Julie Waters, a Coppell ISD parent. view article

“Cell phones are extremely harmful for student learning”, was a comment TEA Commissioner Mike Morath made at the most recent Senate Education Committee Hearing calling for phones to be banned across the state in schools. We spoke with the Bowie ISD Superintendent and he said that he is not fully against Morath’s call for a phone ban. Morath made this call for a cell phone ban last Wednesday. Currently, Bowie ISD is already doing something similar to a phone ban. Restricting the usage of phones during school hours, we spoke with Blake Enlow, he said he can understand the need for a phone ban. view article

Panhandle ISD is working to make it easier for students, parents, and staff to ask for help. HELPme is an app that provides a direct connection to self help resources, help from the school or community, and a 24/7 crisis text line, all through the app. HELPme is a district-wide mental health support program that students can go if they are feeling anxious or frustrated. view article

Four middle school students have been arrested after allegedly circulating potential threats against Bastrop Middle School. Bastrop ISD informed parents and staff on Tuesday a screenshot was circulating on social media, which indicated a possible threat to the campus. view article

A new law gives parents more power over a child’s actions on social media, but only if the parent knows about the account.  Parents of Texas children under 18 can now monitor and restrict their child’s activity on digital platforms including Facebook and Instagram — but only if they know their child uses the service.Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, rolled out parental control features in Texas last week to comply with House Bill 18, the Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment Act, which went into effect Sept. 1. The Legislature passed it last year to restrict kids from seeing harmful material on the internet, such as content promoting self-harm or substance abuse, while also giving parents more power to regulate what their child does online. view article

Books, backpacks and SMART tags. That’s the list of items that kids will want to have as they head off to school each morning. Seguin ISD is expanding its use of the SMART tag™ program for the 2024-2025 school year. Middle school students were previously enrolled in the program during the spring 2024 semester. Schools this week have started distributing cards to students who did not previously participate in the program. view article

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - The pandemic accelerated how much we all depend on internet access to carry out daily activities. The latest data shows more than 2 million Texas households do not have high speed internet, disproportionately affecting those in rural areas. “What has been revealed by COVID is the fact that many of our students in the city do not have equal access to broadband,” said Amarillo Mayor Ginger Nelson. However, this is not something that can be fixed overnight. view article

Ahead of the spring semester, Spring ISD officials have announced that changes will be implemented in hopes of improving remote and in-person instruction for teachers and students. In a presentation at the Dec. 8 board meeting, Lupita Hinojosa, chief officer of school leadership and student support services, announced that not all teachers will have to teach online and in-person students concurrently in the spring semester, as is currently the case. view article

Cleveland and Liberty ISDs became the latest school districts on the outskirts of the greater Houston area to cancel their online learning options this week, joining Barbers Hill and Navasota ISDs in requiring the majority of their students to return to campuses. Liberty ISD, which educates 2,266 students about 50 minutes northeast of downtown Houston, told parents at the end of October that remote learning would be offered only to medically fragile students, students who have tested positive for COVID-19, students who are quarantining due to COVID-19 exposure and students whose schools temporarily were closed due to positive tests. view article

The deadline has been extended for Fort Bend Independent School District parents deciding if they want their children to continue virtual learning or head back to the classroom. This comes as a special board meeting scheduled for today was canceled. Ft. Bend ISD Superintendent Charles Dupre said board members wanted to give more parents time to decide. view article

The Waco Independent School District and its charter school partner, Transformation Waco, could see more than half of their students start the school year Sept. 8 via remote instruction, according to registration numbers provided by both entities. view article

Alief Independent School District Superintendent HD Chambers says school officials have decided to begin the school year online. Chambers said he doesn’t want any student to lose out on their education because of the pandemic but the thought of how to bring students and teachers back to the classroom safely keeps him up at night. view article

Children with severe disabilities often don’t have the ability to speak up when they are hurt at school, so determining what happened can be difficult. That’s why one Dallas ISD trustee wants to require each special education classroom in the district to have video cameras. Texas public schools are already required to place one in a special education setting if a parent requests it. view article

Robert Bostic, a self-described evangelist for science, technology, engineering and math, really started something when he became the superintendent of the Stafford Municipal School District in 2014. The Stafford High Robotics Program, which began two years ago, competed May 19-20 in Austin as one of 32 teams from the state invited to the 2017 University Interscholastic League Robotics FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Division State Championship based on the points it earned at earlier competitions. view article

A threat was made against Seven Lakes Junior High School via social media Thursday, officials said. view article

On March 11, 2016, the Texas Education Agency Commissioner of Education, Mike Morath, requested an opinion from the Texas Attorney General on the implementation of SB 507. This new law requires video surveillance of certain special education settings upon request beginning in the 2016-2017 school year. In an earlier blog post, I outlined the provisions of SB 507. view article

Schoolhouse bullying is nothing new. It has been going on for decades wherever someone bigger, tougher or meaner believed they could get away with abusing another child. And wherever it's happened, it has been harmful to the person being bullied in degrees ranging from intimidation and fear to causing children to commit suicide, or even murder. view article

School districts have been caught flat-footed in the last two years, facing an onslaught of digital textbook providers who follow no standard data file creation process. This problem is called "user provisioning," (a.k.a. account provisioning) a fancy way of saying that you have to create usernames and passwords in EVERY online system students and staff will need to use. view article

The Beaumont ISD Board of Managers appointed Fred Shafer as executive director of the district's special education department during a special meeting Monday, according to social media reports. view article

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New Braunfels ISD Superintendent Randy Moczygemba is in Washington DC today, joining President Barack Obama for the "ConnectED to the Future" Event, a special conference including superintendents and other educators from across the country, who will lead their schools and districts in the transition to digital learning.  view article

While the staff at TexasISD.com preferrs Google Chrome as our browser of choice, we often use Mozilla Firefox as well.  We aren't huge fans of Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE) but the site works on it as well...as long as you are current in your versions, otherwise, well...it's just a mess. Most browsers have an update function and may even notify you that there are updates availible.  In some districts I have been to, the attitude is what I have works, why update. Well, what you have probably doesn't work that well and you just don't realize it. Take a second to check your browser version or look for updates if you haven't in a while. view article