A former Bastrop ISD teacher was sentenced to two years of community supervision following incidents involving students in 2021 and 2022. Roy Franks Sr. pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent assault by contact in June, according to court documents. He was sentenced to two years of community supervision. Two charges of improper relationship between educator and student were dismissed as part of the plea agreement. view article

A Comal Independent School District teacher has been arrested and charged with improper relationship with a student, according to the Comal County Sheriff’s Office. Jennifer Massey, 51, is a teacher at Davenport High School, the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post. At 6 p.m. Thursday, deputies arrived at an under-construction home in the 22000 block of Citadel Point in Garden Ridge for reports of a suspicious person. view article

A former Northside Independent School District teacher was sentenced to 192 months in prison on Friday for distribution of child pornography. According to court documents, 63-year-old Thomas Mckinley Koog Jr. uploaded a one minute video on a social media website of two minors engaged in sexual acts. view article

IDEA Public Schools told a Travis County district court that blocking school ratings hurts charter school networks like them.  The largest charter school network in Texas is intervening in a lawsuit that has temporarily blocked the Texas Education Agency from releasing academic accountability ratings for the 2023-2024 school year.  "We are standing up for the right of Texas families to access information they need to make decisions about their children's education and for the public's right to hold schools accountable for their performance," IDEA Public Schools CEO and Superintendent Jeff Cottrill said in a statement released Thursday evening.  IDEA is petitioning the court to allow TEA to release the ratings, which gives schools and districts A-F letter grades based on the agency's calculation of their academic performance. view article

The attorney general argues that the popular short form video app has not complied with a new state law that seeks to protect children who are active online.  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued TikTok on Thursday for sharing and selling minors’ personal information, violating a new state law that seeks to protect children who are active on social media, accusations that the company denied hours later.  The Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment Act prohibits social media companies from sharing or selling a minor’s personal information unless a parent or guardian approves. The law, which was passed by the Legislature last year and partially went into effect Sept. 1, also requires companies to create tools that let verified parents supervise their minor child’s account.  Paxton argues in the legal filing that TikTok, a short-form video app, has failed to comply with these requirements. Although TikTok has a “family pairing” feature that allows parents to link their account to their teen’s account and set controls, parents don’t have to verify their identity using a “commercially reasonable method,” as required by Texas law. The minor also has to consent to the pairing. view article

The attorney general argues that the popular short form video app has not complied with a new state law that seeks to protect children who are active online.  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued TikTok on Thursday for sharing and selling minors’ personal information, violating a new state law that seeks to protect children who are active on social media, accusations that the company denied hours later.  The Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment Act prohibits social media companies from sharing or selling a minor’s personal information unless a parent or guardian approves. The law, which was passed by the Legislature last year and partially went into effect Sept. 1, also requires companies to create tools that let verified parents supervise their minor child’s account.

Schertz Police are investigating claims a substitute teacher assaulted two more students in Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD (SCUC ISD). This report comes nearly a week after a substitute teacher was arrested by Cibolo Police. 42-year-old Yorllin Hernandez is accused of injuring two students at Barbara Jordan Intermediate School. view article

A federal judge has ruled that Darryl George, the student suspended from Barbers Hill ISD for the length of his hair, can pursue a temporary restraining order that would allow him to go back to class. The student spent the majority of his junior year serving an in-school suspension while the case played out. view article

To check voter registration status, click here. Registered voters can update their address and other information online or contact their local voter registrar.  If Texans still need to register, they must submit a paper application. Individuals can download the application here, which must be printed, signed and mailed to a county’s election office. Texans can also contact or visit their local election office for information about in-person registration.  Texas does not allow online voter registration, unless individuals are updating, renewing or replacing a Texas driver’s license or ID card through the Texas Department of Public Safety.   view article

Austin ISD police arrested Luis Resendiz Alvarado for how he allegedly restrained a student. view article

It’s election season! That wonderful span when all Americans make the time and mental effort to reflect on and celebrate the fact that we are more alike than we are different and when we, as an electorate, focus on the real issues to be worked on instead of being distracted by curated, quasi-contextual soundbites that serve only to divide us and make political consultants rich. Or…something like that.

Fort Worth ISD will pay former Superintendent Angélica Ramsey $544,463 to buy out her contract, according to her exit agreement with the school board. The 12-page agreement, obtained by the Fort Worth Report through an open records request, outlines that the district will pay Ramsey two major lump sum payments and set aside retirement funds for her. It also details the educator’s new role as the district’s public relations ambassador, and she was immediately placed on leave with full salary and benefits. view article

There are new developments in the investigation into the Grand Prairie Independent School District’s superintendent. Dr. Jorge Arrendondo was placed on administrative leave last month after only being on the job for a few months. view article

As the Fort Worth Independent School District’s school board soon determines how it will conduct its search for a new superintendent, North Texas school attorneys say the opening could be well sought-after even in the midst of the school year. Superintendent Angélica Ramsey’s last day with Fort Worth ISD was Monday after she resigned from her post amid scrutiny of the district’s academic performance. Her resignation agreement states that she’ll receive more than $500,000 in severance and will remain employed by the district until next August as its “ambassador for public relations. view article

An Austin ISD parent says she plans to take legal action against the district. Video taken on Sept. 18 shows a 10th-grade student and assistant principal wrestling in the restroom of Navarro Early College High School. The student says this incident happened during a restroom break between classes. view article

Three Midlanders have filed suit against the City of Midland, Midland ISD, the Assistant City Manager of Midland and a Midland Building Official, and are seeking $250,000 or less in monetary relief, as well as a stop to the construction project starting October, 1 on the Ranchland Hills Golf Course. The Lawsuit, obtained by First Alert 7, alleges that the City of Midland and Midland ISD have not gone through the due process and permitting procedures required by the Midland City Code and Texas law that would allow Midland ISD to legally build a new Midland High School on the district owned property of 1600 E. Wadley Avenue, the Ranchland Hills Golf Course. view article

Bryan police arrested a Bryan ISD bus driver Thursday morning for driving intoxicated while transporting 24 students younger than the age of 15. Police responded to a crash around Lakeview Street and Fairway Drive and determined the school bus was “involved in a minor accident with a parked, unoccupied vehicle.” Students were on the bus during the crash, but police say none were injured. view article

Two Socorro ISD employees were placed on administrative leave after they were arrested forindecency with a child. Rodolfo Laureano and David Hernandez were arrested on Sept. 18 and 27. According to the district's directory, Laureano is listed as a part-time bus driver. view article

A woman who was shot outside the Dub Farris Athletic Complex has filed a lawsuit against the Northside Independent School District and two of the district’s officers involved in the incident. The lawsuit, which was filed on Friday, accuses Northside ISD, NISD Officer Kyle Kennedy, and NISD Officer Joseph Garcia of unreasonable use of deadly force. KSAT reached out to Northside ISD on Saturday for a comment on the lawsuit against the district. NISD assistant superintendent of communications Barry Perez responded to KSAT on Sunday. Perez said that the district does not have a comment on the suit because it is an “ongoing legal matter.” view article

Two Socorro ISD employees were placed on administrative leave after they were arrested forindecency with a child. Rodolfo Laureano and David Hernandez were arrested on Sept. 18 and 27. According to the district's directory, Laureano is listed as a part-time bus driver. view article

The family of a 5-year-old Fort Worth ISD student is speaking out after the district confirmed the child was left behind at a museum during a school field trip. According to the district, they learned about the incident on Wednesday when a group of students from Carrol Peak Elementary went on a field trip to the Fort Worth Science and History Museum. view article

A substitute teacher at Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD was arrested and charged with two counts of injury to a child. In a SCUCISD letter obtained by KSAT, the district said Cibolo police took Yorlin Hernandez, 42, into custody without incident on Friday afternoon. He was later booked into the Guadalupe County Jail, records show. view article

For anyone working in public schools, the category of “things I didn’t sign up for” seems to be expanding rapidly. It is increasingly routine, for example, to receive a subpoena for either testimony or documents in conjunction with your work as an educator. While no one would recommend that you ignore a subpoena, there are rules that must be followed by anyone seeking to issue and serve a subpoena. School staff are often unaware of these rules and can inadvertently make it easier to be subpoenaed, which can create a distraction from school-related duties and place school staff in the middle of legal disputes having nothing to do with them. More problematic is how frequently districts are asked to produce student or employee records via subpoena. If the subpoena is not properly served under the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, this can impact a district’s ability to lawfully produce otherwise protected records.

As districts face an ever-increasing number of community “watchdogs” and social media warriors posting opinions on issues based on, at best, 50% of the actual facts, it is common to question what the legal remedies are for defamed districts, employees, and officials. On the other hand, districts may also question what recourse the public may have against them and their employees and officials when defending themselves in a public forum on a controversial issue. Below is a brief analysis of each of those situations.

Texas school districts are authorized to provide public school transportation. For those that do, motor vehicle accidents are fertile ground for claims against school districts. School districts may benefit from taking the time to review their risk management approach to the provision of transportation services.

For many school districts, posting information on district websites and social media has become a vital tool in how districts communicate with their parents, students and communities. Additionally, the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Legislature have created a number of legal requirements involving posting information regarding transparency and district operations. Posting this information the district website is one way to ensure compliance with the law. Everything from your District of Innovation Plan to your school calendar to the next week’s lunch menu are available to anyone, at any time, day or night, via your district website.

At this point we don’t need to impress upon you the meaningful impacts that a well-written District of Innovation (“DOI”) Plan can have on school operations. After nearly ten years of the DOI experiment, it’s no secret that these plans are powerful tools—especially if properly drafted. Whether your District is seeking to adopt a plan for the first time, to renew an expiring plan, or to amend an existing plan, you must ensure that you carefully consider including the latest and greatest exemptions. This quick article will address some of the most popular and emerging innovations worth considering.

We see it every year: parents trying to opt their child out of STAAR testing. Some claim it’s against their religious beliefs, some claim it’s bad for their children’s mental health, and some have no problem stating they just don’t want to participate. Below we’ll discuss the constellation of consequences that students may face for their parent’s choice of opting out, and what issues your school district might encounter if more and more parents begin to follow this trend.

The State Board of Education is proposing amendments to 19 Tex. Admin. Code Ch. 74, as well as revamping and rewriting the Dyslexia Handbook, proposed to be called the “Texas Dyslexia and Dysgraphia Handbook.”

In Tinker v. Des Moines (1969), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled “students do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” Still, the First Amendment does not provide students absolute rights to such freedoms. Schools have a special interest in regulating on-campus student speech when it “materially and substantially interfere[s] with the requirements of appropriate discipline in the operation of the school,” or such a disruption could be reasonably forecasted, or the speech “impinge[s] upon the rights of other students.” Balancing those competing interests, Tinker provides the standard for evaluating whether the First Amendment protects a student’s speech. Since Tinker, the Court has revisited student speech on multiple occasions, each time carving out narrow exceptions to the general Tinker standard based on certain characteristics or content of the speech, to include Tinker’s reach to off-campus student speech.

If you have spent more than five minutes in a Texas public school, you are likely aware that students must meet certain academic requirements to maintain extracurricular eligibility. At the end of each grading cycle, we hear the refrain echoing down the halls of the school—No pass, no play. With a slogan that simple, you would think the application would be straightforward. Not necessarily. Confusion seems to have arisen from UIL’s apparent interpretation of section 38.081 of the Education Code governing extracurricular eligibility and how it applies to students receiving special education and related services. It is important to understand both the statute itself as well as UIL’s interpretation to best position yourself to defend your eligibility decisions.

A Garland ISD employee is on administrative leave after allegedly taking photos of a female elementary school student while she was in the restroom. The incident reportedly took place during the week of March 29 at Abbett Elementary, according to an email sent to parents on Thursday, April 1. view article

Pursuant to subsection 38.001(f) of the Education Code, the Legislature provided that a student who has not received the immunizations required by law “for reasons of conscience, including because of the person’s religious beliefs, may be excluded from school in times of emergency or epidemic declared by the commissioner of public health.” Read in context, a court likely would conclude that this exception does not permit exclusion of students who lack vaccinations unrelated to an existing "epidemic" contemplated by subsection 38.001(f). view article

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On May 4, 2020, the Department of Education (“DOE”) issued new Title IX regulations, which direct how educational institutions receiving federal funds must address reports of sexual harassment and sexual assault involving both students and employees. view article