I enjoyed this article from Texas Monthly- js --The conservative, gun-toting superintendent of Fort Davis Independent School District is fed up: “I'm not patient enough to spend time with assholes in Austin, and I'm not rich enough to buy any votes.”  exas doesn’t have a mile-high city, but Fort Davis comes close at 4,892 feet. The tiny unincorporated town is nestled in the foothills of the Davis Mountains, where bears and mountain lions and elk stalk among pine-forested sky islands. Fort Davis is the seat of Jeff Davis County, whose population of 1,900 is spread among 2,265 square miles, 50 percent bigger than Rhode Island. The sparsely populated desert country of Mongolia has nearly seven times the population density of Jeff Davis County. Odessa, the nearest city to Fort Davis, is two and a half hours away. The state Capitol is six and a half.    For Graydon Hicks III, the far-flunged-ness of Fort Davis is part of its appeal. He likes the high and lonesome feel of his hometown—the “prettiest in Texas,” he says. But these days, it has never felt further from the state’s political center of gravity. view article

The La Feria Independent School District is partnering with local businesses to create a new internship program for students. The new program launched in January of this year. The school district is currently partnered with 20 local businesses that are housing students and teaching them skills to increase career readiness. view article

San Antonio students may be glad that school is out for summer, but sometimes that comes with parents worrying about feeding their families. Thankfully for community members in need, a number of San Antonio-area school districts are offering free meals to children this summer. view article

Medina Valley Independent School District, which includes the town of Castroville, covers 300-square miles. And with a new high school on the way, more growth is expected. The district has 56 active subdivisions. Mom Tracy Lewis lives in one of the new subdivisions called 'Silos.' “I think we were the 50th house in the neighborhood," says Lewis. Lewis literally saw her community grow from the ground up. Her family was one of the first to move in a few years ago. view article

SPRING, TX– June 5, 2023 – Thousands of Spring ISD parents and family members gathered at the district’s Planet Ford Stadium June 1-3 to cheer on the more than 2,000 graduates of the district’s six high schools – Spring Early College Academy, Dekaney High School, Carl Wunsche Sr. High School, Westfield High School, Spring High School, and Spring ISD’s newest secondary school of choice, Momentum High School. Graced with mostly sunny skies and the warmth of early summer, the ceremonies brought together graduates, their teachers and other campus staff, as well as family and friends all wishing the best to the members of the Class of 2023, who were freshmen in high school at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic but rose to the challenge to cross the stage during this weekend’s ceremonies. view article

According to Michael Stevens’ social media page, it states he worked as a Principal at Electra ISD and Assistant Principal at Vernon ISD. Stevens was arrested in connection with a sex-sting operation conducted by Harris County. “Reporter: Could there be a possibility that he’s had other communication with any other underage minors? “Of course, there’s always a possibility,” said Constable Alan Rosen, Precinct 1, Harris County. view article

Neuralink, Elon Musk's brain-implant company, recently received clearance from the Food and Drug Administration for its first-in-human clinical trials, despite safety concerns and reports about the company's experimentation on animals. The company used Twitter, which also is owned by Musk, to announce it had received the clearance, saying the accomplishment was the result of "close collaboration with the FDA and represents an important first step that will one day allow our technology to help many people." view article

The Comal Independent School District said the graduating class of 2023 from their five area high schools received a total of nearly $600,000 in local scholarships. The $592,622 the senior class earned surpassed the district’s goal for the latest school year. “We continue to be amazed by the generosity of the Comal ISD community which funds our local scholarships,” says Sarah Permenter, executive director of community relations for Comal ISD. “We value their partnership and commitment to working with us to support our students and families every year.” view article

DIXMONT, Maine (WABI/Gray News) – Identical triplets from Maine are graduating high school and heading off to the Big Apple to pursue their dreams. The Lacadie triples – Madison, Kacie and Grace – were born in May 2005 and received immediate media coverage. The odds of having identical triplets are about 1 in 200 million, according to NPR. The young women – who just turned 18 – will be graduating this weekend from Nokomis Regional High School in Newport, all with highest honors. Back in 2005, proud parents Donald and Courtney Lacadie said they didn’t know how they were going to raise three girls at once, still in shock of knowing they had such a rare set of triplets. view article

A view of the Texas state capitol under dark clouds. The defining experience of Jordan Zamora-Garcia’s high school career — a hands-on group project in civics class that spurred a new city ordinance in his Austin suburb — would now violate Texas law. view article

WESTFORD, Mass. (WHDH) - More than a dozen twins and a set of triplets graduated from a Massachusetts high school last week. Westford Academy’s graduation ceremony may have seemed a bit repetitive but that was because the class of 2023 included triplets and 15 sets of twins. “They hang out together. They play sports together. They do activities together. And they’re all graduating together,” Daniel Twomey, dean of students, said. The twin brothers and sisters said being a twin has its ups and downs. view article

Dakota White from Red Oak is ready to be an Olympian one day. “I just really like running,” Dakota said. The eight-year-old is considered one of the fastest kids in the country. When she was six, she earned gold medals in the 100 and 400-meter races of the AAU Gulf Primary/8U Championships. She has her sights set on the Junior Olympics now. “My [favorite race] is the 100 [meters] because all you have to do is run down,” Dakota said. Her father, Cameron, said he could tell at a very young age that his daughter had something special. “I’m like watching the videos and I’m like, how does she run do pretty? Everybody says he form is like amazing and I’m just blessed. She is blessed. That’s a gift from God,” her Dad said. view article

The Supreme Court, citing the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, has "repeatedly condemned" racial balancing – a policy focused on racial proportionality by aligning the composition of a school’s student population with the school district’s racial demographics – as "illegitimate" and "patently unconstitutional," and "racial classifications" as "pernicious." Yet, school boards like those in Philadelphia and Fairfax, Virginia, have replaced merit-based admissions to elite academic high schools with policies intended to achieve racial diversity in the classroom through racial balancing of the student body. view article

Having a high-achieving older sibling helps children, especially those from socioeconomically disadvantaged families, succeed academically, according to a new Yale-led study. Using data from North Carolina public schools, a team led by Yale sociologist Emma Zang found that children whose birthdays fall shortly after the state's cutoff date for starting kindergarten—and who are therefore among the oldest in their classes—tend to perform better academically than their younger classmates. For those students with younger siblings, the study found, their success in turn has a positive influence on those siblings once they reach middle school—particularly among children from disadvantaged families. view article

The quiet East Texas town of Jasper came together immediately after the racist murder of James Byrd Jr. Now, Texas is leading the nation in incidents of white supremacist propaganda.  JASPER — On a spring afternoon in May, Keith Adams and James Traylor sat on lawn chairs off of Huff Creek Road, a single-lane thoroughfare outside of Jasper’s city limits. The two men, between swigs of Bud Light, laughed and traded memories about their former neighbor, James Byrd Jr.  “He was a clown,” Adams said. “Always singing, always doing impersonations. He said he was going to make history.” view article

GLENDALE, Calif. (AP) — Protesters briefly scuffled and punches flew Tuesday as a Southern California school district decided whether to recognize June as Pride month. Several hundred people gathered in the parking lot of the Glendale Unified School District headquarters, split between those who support or oppose exposing youngsters to LGBTQ+ issues in schools. Some opponents wore T-shirts emblazoned with: “Leave our kids alone.” view article

Do you know what stereotypes are? They are often beliefs formed about what a certain group of people can or cannot do when it comes to race, gender, age, physical disabilities and more. One graduate from Mansfield ISD just smashed a stereotype and looks forward to helping others do the same. view article

Members of the Austin American-Statesman’s labor union went on strike Monday because of an ongoing contract dispute with the newspaper's parent company, Gannett. Nicole Villalpando, who covers health care for the Statesman and serves as the union's vice chair, said she and some of her other colleagues have to work other jobs. “We have about a third of the newsroom who cannot afford to live in Austin,” Villalpando said. “They're having to get roommates. They're having to do things like DoorDash and working a second job. ... It's just been really, really tough to do the jobs that we love.” Villalpando has been with the Statesman for 24 years. She said she makes $65,000 per year and that's "basically" the same amount she earned in 2010. She picked up a job as a Weight Watchers coach to help pay her daughter's medical bills. view article

“Tarrant County sends more kids to youth prisons than any other in Texas. Many blame this judge.” was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. view article

Texas lawmakers made huge investments in community colleges and created new endowments for public universities. They also banned diversity, equity and inclusion offices and gave themselves more control over university faculty tenure.When state lawmakers released a final version of the budget for the next two years, they included $700 million extra in state funding for Texas’ public universities. University leaders requested extra funds at the start of the session and agreed to keep tuition flat for undergraduate students for the next two years if the state provided the financial boost. LATEST FROM THE SERIES 2023 Session Recap » Texas lawmakers closed a background check loophole, but many gun measures failed to pass Fossil fuels got a boost from lawmakers aiming to fix Texas’ grid, while renewable energy escaped stricter regulations Texas lawmakers pursued dozens of bills affecting LGBTQ people this year. Here’s what passed and what failed. But budget writers included an additional caveat. Universities would get this extra money only if two pieces of legislation became law: Senate Bill 17, which banned diversity, equity and inclusion offices in Texas higher education, and Senate Bill 18, the proposal to ban or overhaul tenure. By the end of the regular session, both bills were sent to the governor for approval. view article

The severe weather the Rio Grande Valley has had in the past few days forced the Brownsville Independent School District to postpone two graduation ceremonies. “They can do more, BISD can do more,” said Evelyn Toscano a Veterans Memorial High School student. After severe storms pushed through Cameron County. Brownsville ISD made the decision to postpone Veterans Memorial High School graduation. view article

From an overflow of companies relocating headquarters or expanding in the city to the announcement of the new Universal theme park, Frisco’s skyrocketing growth brought excitement as well as headaches. Residents and city officials alike are adapting to the fast-paced change, and schools are no exception. Four of Frisco ISD’s most popular schools are maxed out for the 2023-2024 school year. view article

A Tuscola teacher never had the ‘traditional’ family growing up, but said she knew she was loved by more. Years later, she became part of another untraditional family, a blended family. She began to write her story 15+ years ago to help children in blended families acclimate but didn’t finish until just recently. view article

Notably kicking off the start of a new month, the start of summer vacation for most schoolchildren and district employees, and the beginning of pioneering projects to further strengthen the partnership and community connection between the City of Pharr and the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District, the entities formalized their respective commitments by signing interlocal agreements. view article

Officials with the Fort Bend Independent School District said they are changing ticket prices for sports games for the 2023-2024 school year. view article

A Hawkins High School student, who passed away in a wreck this past weekend, will have his digital artwork on display at a New York City museum exhibit in June after he earned a prestigious national art award earlier this year. Jaykob Dodd, 16, won a national gold medal at the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards for his art piece titled "Mother Father Earth," Hawkins ISD announced in a Facebook post in March. view article

Corpus Christi ISD saw two challenges: a growing supply of Chromebooks in need of repairs and maintenance and a need to support students interested in careers in technology. On Wednesday, the district unveiled the solution — the new Student Technology Service Center, located at the district's instructional resource center. view article

Frisco is exploding with growth as rooftops, retail, and a Universal theme park are coming to town — but those who chose the area for A-ranked Frisco ISD may have cause for concern. Frisco ISD is one of the fastest-growing districts in the nation, and one middle school and three high schools are at capacity, Frisco ISD reported in December. That means some potential students are getting turned away for the 2023-24 school year, forced to enroll in a different school than the one their parents bargained for when they purchased the home. view article

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The state of Texas may try to use eminent domain to prevent a developer from turning a state park into a private community. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission will hold a special meeting June 10 to consider acquiring the land through condemnation, the process by which governments can use eminent domain. The developer, Dallas-based Todd Interests, plans to turn the property into a gated community with multi-million dollar homes and a golf course. The company will officially take over the land, which includes Fairfield Lake State Park, from the current owner on June 13. Lawmakers previously considered allowing the state to use eminent domain to acquire the property. A bill filed in the legislature was significantly altered to focus on water rights in the lake rather than using eminent domain. House Bill 4757 was passed by the House, but left pending in a Senate committee after some senators warned it could open the state up to possible litigation. view article

Doneva Lewis was tired of watching her oldest daughter, Morgan, return from school "looking like a walking zombie." The two-hour bus ride to and from Lanier Middle School in Montrose from their home in northwest Houston was taking a toll on the 12-year-old, and so was the bullying. When a car wreck left the mom unable to drive her three youngest children to McGowen Elementary School in their old neighborhood, Houston Gardens, she made up her mind: She was taking them all out of Houston ISD entirely. After a brief stint in nearby Aldine ISD, Lewis decided to home-school her four children. "I just decided it was too much, my (oldest) child is being stretched too thin. She went from being an outgoing person to someone who just didn't care," Lewis said. "I said 'OK, let's get you out of here. I can't leave you there.'" view article

Argyle ISD will host a special information meeting this week for families and the community to learn more about and discuss the district’s 10-Year Strategic Growth Plan. The fast-growing district is expecting a continued boom in enrollment, and it is planning to build new schools, convert campuses and more to adapt to the growing and changing student population. view article

Graduation day is supposed to be one of the biggest highlights for high school seniors, but for some students at Summer Creek High School, the day turned unexpectedly sour. Students who were part of the Spanish National Honor Society were prepared to walk across the stage over the weekend with sashes that let everyone know they got good grades and completed more than 100 volunteer hours, but those sashes were stripped away from them before the ceremony began. view article

OXON HILL, Md. — Allen’s Faizan Zaki and Keller’s Brihasa Veduru advanced to Wednesday’s quarterfinals in the Scripps National Spelling Bee after three challenging preliminary rounds Tuesday. Faizan correctly spelled “kapparah,” a symbolic ceremony practiced by some Orthodox Jews to show atonement for sins on the eve of Yom Kippur. The 11-year-old, who attends Skaggs Elementary School in Plano, then had to identify, via a multiple-choice question, what it means to “corral” a herd: to gather and confine it. Faizan first made it to the nationals when he was 7. He’s already made it further this time, spelling “jointure,” the state of being connected, in the third round. view article

McCamey Independent School District and Athletic Director Michael Woodard were each issued a two-year probation and public reprimand by the state’s student athletics body after a video went viral showing a catcher hitting a batter in the head with a ball at close range during a game in early May. view article

HOUSTON, TX -- Lone Star College Navigators currently assists 962 LSC students who are involved in the foster or adoptive care system by offering educational, transportation and housing resources. “Lone Star College has services and support to help students who have experienced foster care navigate to and through Lone Star College,” said Gerald F. Napoles, Ph.D., LSC Vice Chancellor Student Success. “Lone Star College offers a valuable college education that can influence academic and career opportunities.” May is National Foster Care Month. According to the Texas Education Agency, students who were in foster care are eligible to have college tuition and fees waived at Texas state-supported colleges or universities, medical schools, dental schools, community colleges and technical institutes. The LSC Navigators program works with community organizations and school districts in its service area to help students involved in the Foster Care System to continue their education during or after high school. Additionally, the program provides critical resources and services to assist those facing a deficit in basic needs. view article