• Required Data Collection: General Application of Assurances (GAA), Updated for ESSA 5/23
• P-TECH and Industry Cluster Innovative Academy Planning and Designation Applications Open 5/14
• Public Comments on Proposed Rulemaking
• Adequate and Appropriate School Safety Measures
• Hurricane Relief Grants Part 1 5/8
• Process for Certification of 2018–2019 Indirect Cost Rates (Independent School Districts Only) 5/1
• 2017-2018 Additional State Aid for Ad Valorem Tax Credits under Texas Economic Development Act 5/1
• Industry Certification Recommendation Survey 5/1
• Trustee Training Requirement and Senate Bill 1566 

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Hawley ISD coach and teacher Matt Preston is gaining internet fame after uploading an original rap in response to a viral video from vlogger Jake Paul ditching teachers. In the video, Preston features his co-workers at Hawley ISD as he raps about everything that makes teachers great with witty one-liners such as "a few bad apples don't make the grove bad. Some of these kids see me more than their own dad." view article

Some Marshall ISD students took home a new set of wheels on Thursday as part of Mission Marshall’s annual Read to Ride program, which is handing out 324 brand new bicycles and helmets this week for improved reading skills. The 53 students at Price T. Young Elementary School were the first on Thursday to receive their bicycles and helmets from Mission Marshall Director Misty Scott. “Our goal for the district was to have 75 percent of third graders reach their reading goal and earn a bicycle and helmet,” Scott said. “We surpassed our district goal this year, with 78 percent of the district’s third graders meeting their reading goals.” view article

Commencement activities are just around the corner for the graduating class of 2018. Magnolia ISD seniors will cross the stage Saturday, May 26, and Tomball ISD graduates will follow Saturday, June 2. Each graduation ceremony will take place at Reed Arena, 730 Olsen Blvd., College Station, on the Texas A&M University campus.  view article

A Nebraska high school is speaking out and defending its actions after receiving major backlash on social media for denying a graduating senior’s request to wear her U.S. Army sash during the graduation ceremony. Megan Pohlmeier was planning on participating in her high school’s graduation ceremony in May. To celebrate the occasion, the teen said she wanted to wear her Army sash, which was given to her by her recruiter at the Grand Island office in Nebraska four days before graduation, she told Fox News. view article

Bay City Junior High is expanding opportunities for students by restructuring the school day and adding more elective courses for the 2018-2019 school year. Students will have eight more electives to choose from, including three for high school credit. “We are working toward our high school students graduating in the next few years with an Associate’s Degree, and part of that means expanding opportunities to students at the junior high campus for those who are ready to step up to the challenge,” said BCISD Superintendent Dr. Marshall Scott III. view article

Outgoing Tuloso-Midway ISD Superintendent Sue Nelson is leaving behind "a great legacy" of education in the Coastal Bend, Nueces County commissioners said on Wednesday. Commissioners honored Nelson, who is retiring for the third time from the TMISD and capping off a more than 30-year career in education. Nelson has actually retired five different times as superintendent from three different districts — Tuloso-Midway, Eagle Pass and George West. She joked that this time, she would be "graduating with the Class of 2018." view article

Student journalists at Prosper High School are fighting an editorial policy that they say unfairly restricts what they can and cannot print after three controversial pieces were censored this year.  Students were told by principal John Burdett that editorials would not be published because they were "incorrect, not uplifting and did not voice all 3,000 students at their high school," a news release states. view article

Frenship Independent School District hired several new administrators on Monday night, including a new executive director of leadership development, who will train principals and those who want to be campus leaders. Lilia Nanez was approved by a vote of the Frenship Board of Trustees. “This is really going to be exciting for us,” Nanez said. Superintendent Michelle McCord said in an interview on Tuesday that the role of a principal is increasingly complex, just like that of a teacher. But the district has trainers for teachers, whereas McCord said the entire state needs to do more to train its top leaders. view article

During last week’s Mesquite ISD board of trustees meeting, the Student Superintendent Advisory Council presented the board with a proposal on how to aid future students with a common issue faced by many students across the district, which was unanimously approved. “This year we identified our problem to be time management. After many discussions and receiving various opinions, we understood that this is a common problem throughout all age levels of high school,” said West Mesquite senior Chasatey Virgil. view article

Hallsville ISD's Career and Technology Education (CTE) department recently celebrated its annual, end of the school year, CTE Advisory Luncheon where the district thanked its business and industry partners and recognized top students in CTE programs. Hallsville ISD CTE Director Kathy Gaw said on Wednesday that the district recognized 28 students from the high school's CTE programs, including in the agriculture science, business technology, family and consumer science, health science technology and trade and industry fields. view article

Bryan ISD students welcomed some special visitors to one of their campuses Wednesday. Fannin Elementary partnered with Burnett Elementary in Pasadena ISD to help after their students were hit hard by heavy rains and flooding from Hurricane Harvey. On Wednesday, Bryan ISD cheerleaders, students and staff rolled out the welcome wagon to more than 100 people from Burnett Elementary. "It was cool. We go to say hi and we got to help them," said Isabella Ballasteros, a Fannin Elementary School Student. view article

Among those students honored at the Monday evening, WOCCISD School Board meeting include the All-State Academic Baseball Team, Caleb Ramsey and Chad Dallas, both WO-SHS seniors, as well as Texas Alliance of Minorities in Engineering State Conference qualifier in math and science, Torri Culpepper, WO-SMS seventh grader. The WOCCISD Aspiring Administrator’s Leadership Academy also honored Brandon Allison and Denise Willingham, both Assistant Principals, WO-S Middle, and Tiffany Richard-Brown, Dean of Academics, WO-S Middle; Jennifer Watson, GT ELR Teacher, WO-S Middle; Vickie Oceguera, Principal, NELC; Karl Whitley, AP, WO-SE; view article

While summer vacations are a time for students to take a break from school and recharge their batteries for the next school year, it is important to remember that reading over the summer months is crucial to a child’s continued academic achievement. Research has shown that children who don’t engage in reading activities (or read infrequently) during their summer vacation are more likely to lose leverage toward reading proficiency and experience a decline in their reading ability. The average student regresses two months of reading proficiency over the summer. In an effort to prevent a lapse in student progress, Alvin ISD is thrilled to roll out its summer reading initiative, “Get Caught Reading.”  view article

The Santa Fe High School shooting prompted an art teacher to grab a pencil for comfort, not realizing it was her sketch that would bring relief to many others. As an art teacher, Laura Doherty has created a lot of work, but there's one piece she's especially proud of. view article

After a Consumer Justice investigation into the perks found in superintendent salaries, many viewers wanted to know if other administrators were receiving the same bonuses. While they don’t get the perks, they do get six-figure salaries. For example, there are 14 assistant, area, and deputy superintendents at Grand Prairie ISD. Each makes between $140,000 and $222,000 a year. That’s a total of $2.7 million dollars. Ross Kesceg, a member of a conservative non-profit taxpayer watchdog group, says it seems excessive. “If a Fortune 500 company wants to waste money with a bunch of mid-level management that they don’t need, that’s their money, but this is taxpayer money.” view article

Inside a portable classroom, Brundrett Middle School Principal James Garrett talks to a group of students on Oct. 16, 2017, which was the day Port Aransas ISD reopened following a seven-week closure due to damage caused by Hurricane Harvey. Staf photo by Zach PerkinsSchool officials learned on the fly how to deal with building damage, FEMA and insurance in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, said Port Aransas ISD Superintendent Sharon McKinney. view article

What started with a pained Facebook post by Chief Art Acevedo after yet another school shooting Friday has escalated into a full-on war of words with the nation’s gun lobby. Hours after a gunman killed 10 people and wounded 13 others — including a retired Houston police officer — Acevedo tweeted his frustration, excoriating elected officials for failing “to enact common sense statutes & policies & continue to fail our families & especially our children.” view article

Highland Park ISD is discussing opening enrollment to allow children of faculty to attend its schools. The board has been researching and discussing the idea since January, and if approved, the policy would slowly phase in. The draft policy would allow non-resident, full-time professional contracted employees – including teachers, librarians, counselors, and professional staff – to apply for their child to transfer into HPISD schools. view article

Santa Fe High School students returned to the school Tuesday to pick up their belongings left inside the high school last week. Students lined up outside of the high school, signed in, left their cell phones outside and were escorted into the school by officers. They are expected to return to class on May 29 to finish the school year. Some parents are concerned the teens will be traumatized again after Friday's massacre where eight students and two teachers were murdered. view article

Humble ISD special needs students from each high school were greeted with applause and cheers before they played in their indoor soccer tournament. view article

As the end of the Conroe ISD school year approaches, Class of 2018 seniors will cross the stage of The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion beginning May 24. Each graduation will take place at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, located at 2005 Lake Robbins Drive, The Woodlands. Each ceremony will begin at 7:30 p.m. with pavilion gates opening at 6:30 p.m. Graduating seniors must report to the pavilion by 5:30 p.m. view article

Harlingen CISD has been honored with the Best Communities for Music Education designation from The NAMM Foundation for its outstanding commitment to music education. The Best Communities for Music Education designation is awarded to districts that demonstrate outstanding achievement in efforts to provide music access and education to all students. To qualify for the Best Communities designation, HCISD answered detailed questions about funding, graduation requirements, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, support for the music program, and community music-making programs. Responses were verified with school officials and reviewed by The Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas. view article

Houston Texans star JJ Watt is offering monetary support to the families of those killed in Friday's shooting at a Santa Fe, Texas high school. view article

School officials from across Texas have long opposed the state's accountability system for students. Frisco ISD administrators are among those hoping to do something about it. During Monday's FISD Board of Trustees meeting, Superintendent Mike Waldrip updated the board on the Texas Public Accountability Consortium (TPAC). view article

Northwest Early College High School and Congressman Silvestre & Carolina Reyes Elementary have been named to the 2017 - 2018 Educational Results Partnership Honor Roll for their high achievement and student success. The Texas Honor Roll recognizes higher performing schools that are distinguished for their academic achievement and for closing achievement gaps. view article

The Temple school board voted this week to make Texas Bioscience Institute courses comparable to Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate classes in terms of how GPA (grade point average) is calculated. The new policy will not affect current Temple High School students but will be in place for incoming freshman in the fall. “Due to the rigorous coursework associated with the Texas Bioscience Institute, the Curriculum and Instruction department suggests that the dual credit courses at TBI be weighted with 10 points — that would be comparable with the weight for the Advanced Placement courses and IB courses,” Superintendent Robin Battershell said. view article

A memo by a Mansfield ISD elementary school principal outlines steps the district took to investigate an art teacher after three people complained she had told her students that "girls can marry girls and boys can marry boys." In the Sept. 20 memo newly obtained by The Dallas Morning News, Charlotte Anderson Elementary School principal Sheira Petty detailed the complaints and initial investigation of art teacher Stacy Bailey from late-August to early September. view article

As details emerged of the mass shooting more than 200 miles away at Santa Fe High School in Galveston County, school districts in San Antonio emphasized the collective nature of responsibility for campus safety. Schools can’t prevent campus violence alone, school district leaders said. “It takes every single one of us,” said Brian Gottardy, superintendent of the North East Independent School District, in a letter to the community in which he said the relentless pace of school shootings had left him “overwhelmed with frustration.” After the Feb. 14 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 dead, the district contracted with a company that monitors social media, to flag threats against the district, its schools or students. view article

The Katy Independent School District was well represented during the Texas School Public Relations Association (TSPRA) 56th Annual Conference when the Communications Department took home 14 star awards for their outstanding work in communication, branding and school public relations. Katy ISD competed against 1,331 other entries from several school districts in the region and won five gold, five silver and four bronze recognitions. view article

Fourteen-year-old Madison “Maddie” Thompson is an eighth-grade cheerleader at Coyle Middle School. She has Down syndrome but hasn’t let that define her or keep her from achieving her goal of making the high school cheer squad. In fact, Maddie recently made the freshman cheer squad at Rowlett High School, making her the first student in the Auxiliary Cheer Program to make a high school cheer team in the district. view article

In an effort to promote literacy among young students at Huntsville ISD, churches and community members came together to implement a new program at Scott Johnson Elementary that aimed to accomplish that and more called Arise2Read. During Thursday’s meeting of the Huntsville ISD Board of Trustees, BJ and Holly McMichael of University Heights Baptist Church showed the impact the program has had on the second-graders at the elementary school since its inception in January. “We were able to mobilize 47 volunteers who were given one hour a week to work with two children and that equaled 96 second-graders we were able to work with,” BJ McMichael said.  view article

Before Angleton ISD Superintendent Pat Montgomery delved into the specifics of a $240.8 million plan the district hopes to complete in preparation for a decade’s worth of growth, she wanted to make one thing clear — the district is not calling for a bond election anytime soon. Speaking on behalf of the district’s Master Facilities Planning Committee, Montgomery asked the audience to repeat that message with her during the Greater Angleton Chamber of Commerce’s “Growing With the Cats” luncheon Thursday at The Pearl Event Center. She also reminded attendees Angleton ISD is much larger than the city of Angleton, as it includes Rosharon, parts of Clute and Freeport and other rural areas. view article

A box of ammunition fell from a military helicopter and crashed onto the roof of an El Paso elementary school Thursday afternoon. Officials with Ysleta ISD said no one was injured when the box hit Parkland Elementary School, but it did cause a power outage, reports KTVT-TV (Channel 11). view article