Around 85,000 students in Fort Worth ISD will return to school Monday morning. Teachers in the school district will see a pay increase ranging between 5% and 7%. "We made a significant investment in our teachers. The most important thing a community can do for its future is invest in its schools," Superintendent Dr. Kent Scribner said. "Making sure that the professionals in the classrooms are paid appropriately helps us recruit, helps us retain." view article

• Information for Districts, Campuses, and Charter Schools with Areas of Need Identified through the 2019 State and Federal Accountability System8/13
• Interim Assessment Registration and Updates
• Reading Language Arts (RLA) Assessment Transition 8/9
• Update on the Single, Statewide Assessment for Identification of English Learners, Effective 2019-2020 School Year
• House Bill 3 (HB 3) Implementation: College, Career, or Military Readiness Sections
• Preliminary School FIRST Ratings 2018-2019
• Preliminary Charter FIRST Ratings 2018-2019 8/9
• 86th Legislation on Student Discipline Under Chapter 37 8/9
• Update on the Single, Statewide Assessment for Identification of English Learners, Effective 2019-2020 School Year 8/9
• House Bill 3 Pre-K
• Home Schools(1)  7/12
• State Application to Renew Ed-Flex Authority Available for Public Comment 7/12
• Statewide Waiver for Out-of-District Transportation Interlocal Agreement Requirement of TEC §34.007(1) 7/12
• The Tax Information Survey (TIS) for the 2018–2019 7/2

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Killeen Independent School District held its bi-annual convocation ahead of the 2019-20 school year Friday. Superintendent Dr. John Craft said the district used the event to celebrate the start of a new school year and the approval of a $16 million salary increase package for employees. The district's 7,000 employees also celebrated the impact they will have on 46,000 students at 54 campuses in the upcoming year. view article

This week Austin ISD announced it is implementing a new dress code for students, one that is supposed to uphold the district's values of equity, diversity and inclusion – all very important things. The students will be allowed to show their bra straps, underwear bands, wear ripped clothes and halter tops, among other things. view article

Students who graduate from Cleburne High School next year will do so in a new venue. Cleburne ISD officials announced today that the Class of 2020 will graduate at the Mansfield ISD Center for the Performing Arts. The CHS seniors were given the venue change information during a meeting this morning. Over the past couple of years, the school has hosted the graduation ceremony at a number of places: The Depot, home of the Cleburne Railroaders; the school’s old Jeff D. Cody Arena; and YellowJacket Stadium, also known as “The Rock.” view article

Seven school buses full of school supplies weren’t enough to handle donations from the second annual Fill the Bus event in Pasadena. The city of Pasadena, Pasadena ISD and Pasadena Chamber of Commerce teamed up for the second year in a row to collect school supplies for thousands of local teachers before the start of the school year, which begins Monday, Aug. 19. view article

Karyn Cummings, assistant superintendent of administrative services, presented the Mesquite ISD Board of Trustees with an effectiveness report on the Cultivating Culture initiatives during Monday night’s meeting. “One of the things we did not want to do is come up with one more thing for our campuses to have to do,” Cummings said. “Throughout the development of this document, I kept telling them, I don’t want a program. I don’t want something that we’re going to have to roll out to campuses to do. This just has to be who we are. view article

North East Independent School District is doing something new this school year to crack down on vaping that could result in expulsion for some students. “Vaping has never been allowed,” said Aubrey Chancellor, Executive Director of Communications for NEISD. “It started back where people thought it was a safer alternative to smoking. Now, what we are seeing is students are vaping oils and different types of chemicals, not nicotine, but many things.”  view article

About 1,100 educators and school leaders from Chisum ISD, Paris ISD, Prairiland ISD, and North Lamar ISD attended the annual Lamar County Convocation yesterday. The event featured renowned speaker and consultant Hal Bowman who presented "Teach Like A Rock Star." view article

It is the first day for Edinburg CISD teachers and staff and they are going into the new school year with good news, a pay raise. The salary raise applies to all full-time applies, which the ECISD school board voted on Tuesday and worked worked closely with the administration and teachers during the summer through budget workshops. view article

John Wink, superintendent of Carthage ISD, addresses a large audience at the Panola County Democrat Club on Aug.12. view article

Waco ISD's convocation is the only time during the school year when all district employees come together.  view article

Class is officially back in session for Midland ISD schools, but Ben Milam Elementary is introducing something totally new to the district. "What sets Milam apart from other campuses is that it's the beginning of our dual-language program," said Iliana Bermea Principal at Milam elementary. But many don't know this year marks the very first school selected in MISD to start one. view article

Back in June, Governor Greg Abbott signed House Bill 3 into law.  The sweeping school finance reform package included $4.5-billion that is currently being pumped into public school classrooms, as well as funding for pay raises for teachers and other staff members across the state. "Future generations of children in Texas will be better off because of education reforms passed this session," Abbott said. view article

Superintendent Michael Novotny and the Salado Independent School District welcomed back teachers with lunch, games and prizes on Thursday. view article

The 21-year-old son of a Dallas ISD school board trustee was killed in a shooting early Thursday in east Oak Cliff.  Officers responded around 1:37 a.m. in the 3600 block of Utah Avenue near Overton Road and found Christopher Whitfield lying in the middle of the street.  view article

This year, Garrett Primary will be extending 50 minutes to their day for Pre-K 4-year old’s, which allows them to be released at 3:05 p.m. instead of 2:15 p.m. Last year, Jessica Weaver had a difficult time picking up her son from school at Garrett Primary due to her work schedule. But this year, she won’t have that problem thanks to a later release time. view article

Students with the West Oso Independent School District got a chance Wednesday to make sure they will be dressed to impress ahead of the new school year. 50 students from JFK Elementary School enjoyed a free shopping spree Wednesday at JCPenney. Each student was given a $100 gift card that went toward back-to-school clothing. view article

The Port Arthur ISD superintendent, Dr. Mark Porterie, told KFDM/Fox 4's Tan Radford about new ideas and a renewed focus on education before testing as students return from summer break for the first day of classes. "We're not even going to talk about that test until the end of the year when we introduce it to our children, because if we do what we need to do throughout the year, they will be fine at the end," said Dr. Mark Porterie. view article

School districts across the Lone Star State have announced big pay raises since Governor Greg Abbott signed House Bill 3, which provides $11.5 billion for Texas public education, in June. Temple Independent School District held off on its announcements. The reason: The school district wanted to ensure they could give new teachers one of the best offers around.  view article

Back to School: Lubbock superintendent excited for another year with LISD view article

Weatherford ISD Education Foundation had their largest donation drive ever in the 15th annual Backpack and School Supply Donation Drive on Saturday. WISD Executive Director of Organizational Culture Charlotte LaGrone said hundreds of school supply items were donated as well as $1,400 in cash donations. In addition, about 250 backpacks were donated. view article

Plano ISD announced on Thursday that it canceled a Week 2 high school football game between Plano Senior High and El Paso Eastwood. The game was scheduled for 7 p.m. on Sept. 6 at Kimbrough Stadium in Murphy. The decision comes two weeks after the El Paso shooting on Aug. 3 at a Walmart that killed 22 people. view article

The son of a Dallas ISD trustee was fatally shot overnight Wednesday, and police are asking for anyone with information on his death to contact them. According to the Dallas Police Department, officers were called out at 1:30 a.m. for a shooting call in the 3600 block of Utah Ave. view article

The bell rings signaling the first day of school at Pampa Independent School District on Tuesday. On Wednesday morning, teachers, staff and student ambassadors tried something new to help improve communication with parents and the community. They went door to door canvassing neighborhoods in teams covering nine square miles of Pampa to knock on doors and or ring doorbells. view article

It’s another first day back to school for thousands of North Texas students and teachers. 58 school districts headed back to class Thursday, including larger districts like Richardson, Frisco, McKinney, Wylie, Ennis and Mineral Wells ISDs. Frisco ISD is one of the fastest-growing districts in the country. With a steady stream of families moving into the area, it’s also now DFW’s third-largest public school system behind Dallas and Fort Worth ISDs. view article

Mesquite ISD is inviting the public to find out why they’re proud of their Career & Technical Education (CTE) program and the things they have in store for their students during a showcase at Town East Mall (by the Macy’s entrance), 1-3 p.m., Aug. 15. Career & Technical Education (CTE) classes combine high-quality, rigorous instruction with real-life experiences to prepare students for the future. CTE has within 14 career clusters that equip students to achieve at high levels whether they are starting college, attending a technical school, or entering the workforce after high school graduation. view article

As the new school year opens, Montague Independent School District celebrates the opening of its nearly 10,000-square foot addition. The district also will dedicate the building to the late Melvin Fenoglio who served as an educator and administrator at the school for almost 40 years.  [The Montague ISD will dedicate a facility to the late Melvin Fenoglio who served as an educator and administrator at the school for almost 40 years.] The Montague ISD will dedicate a facility to the late Melvin Fenoglio who served as an educator and administrator at the school for almost 40 years. (Photo: Contributed) The ribbon cutting ceremony will be at 5 p.m. on Aug. 15 with Meet the Teacher to follow. School officials said this is a great opportunity to see the new gym, new classrooms along with meeting the staff. The parent athlete meeting for 6-8th graders will be in the old gym at 6:15 p.m. view article

Reagan Meyer is one of the newest hires in one of the state's fastest-growing school districts. She was hired just days before school starts. view article

The Plainview ISD School Board last week voted to replace air conditioning units at the high school. When he presented the item to the board, Superintendent H.T. Sanchez said the current units are outdated and have essentially been "patched with band-aids" for as long as they could. view article

Middle-schoolers bustled excitedly as they searched for their classes’ room number on a wall in the gymnasium, which had the distinct scent of a brand-new building. Staff began moving in to Springwoods Village Middle School not even a week prior to the start of the 2019-2020 school year but succeeded in getting the new campus ready in time to welcome its students.

Back to school is a time when we can imagine what school could be, before the reality of homework assignments that overwhelm, friendship cliques that exclude, and crushes that go unrequited. As a mother of three boys and a professor of social work, I’d like to imagine the new school year as an opportunity for our children to learn and practice humanity as a fundamental value of our society, especially after recent news of two mass shootings that claimed 31 lives. view article

Last week I posted a blog on Forbes.com about the Phi Delta Kappa annual report on education. This year it features a focus on teacher morale, and I pulled the quote "Tired of being treated like dirt." A reader-- Stacey Miller Chester-- wrote a reply on Facebook I just love, because I'm a sucker for good analogies and metaphors, and so I'm reprinting it here, with her permission: view article

Summer break may be officially over but new adventures await for students in Midland as they head back to school. According to Midland Independent School District, approximately 26,000 students across Midland woke up early today excited and nervous to return to school. view article

Moms and dads, grandparents, and aunts and uncles said goodbye to their kids Wednesday morning as Lufkin ISD’s 15-plus campuses kicked off a new year. Three-year-old Emoree White was ready to play with playdough once again. Her mom, Tynika A., said they were blessed and anxious to begin school this year. view article