Deep in the heart of Texas, old-fashioned oil and gas still pays the bills in a major way, even as the state’s economy diversifies into other activities. As the U.S. churned out record levels of fossil fuels in 2024, the Lone Star State’s oil and gas industry poured over $27 billion worth of royalties into state and local coffers, according to data from the Texas Oil & Gas Association’s annual energy view article

On Wednesday night, the Eanes Independent School District Board of Trustees passed a resolution to close down Valley View Elementary in the upcoming 2025-2026 school year, according to a press release from the district. view article

The HISD superintendent spoke at a news conference after a report was published detailing that purchases had been made without board approval.  Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles's administration failed to get board approval for contracts worth about $870 million over the past 16 months, according to district leadership."Prior to winter break, we discovered that we weren't following all the policies related to the procurement process," Miles said in a video posted on HISD YouTube TV. "One important step in board approval, and that step we missed." view article

The Keller school board has apparently decided to talk about a controversial proposal to split the district behind closed doors instead of during a public meeting that had been scheduled for next week. The board’s president, Charles Randklev, announced on Thursday that a specially called open meeting will now be an executive session closed to the public. “The Keller ISD Board of Trustees will hold a special executive meeting on January 16th to discuss the possibility of reshaping our district,” he wrote in a Facebook post. “Our North Star has and always will be our students and educators.” Keller is the fourth-largest district in Tarrant County and is considered one of the most desirable for its quality of schools. It has more than 34,000 students, including many living in the cities of Fort Worth, Colleyville, Haltom City, Hurst, North Richland Hills, Southlake, Watauga and Westlake. While some of its schools serve wealthy neighborhoods, others are in lower-income, working class communities. view article

On a Thursday morning last May, about a hundred people gathered in the atrium of the Ohio Capitol building to join in Christian worship. The “Prayer at the Statehouse” was organized by an advocacy group called the Center for Christian Virtue, whose growing influence was symbolized by its new headquarters, directly across from the capitol. It was also manifest in the officials who came to take part in the event: three state legislators and the ambitious lieutenant governor, Jon Husted. view article

Just before the Crystal City Independent School District let out for winter break, the district laid off 32 employees. The district told KSAT that none of the layoffs included any contractual employees but instead, “staff members in various non-contractual positions.” Victoria Noel, a woman who grew up in Crystal City and was set to move back to the district, said she’s communicated with teachers impacted by the cuts. view article

Two years after education advocates unsuccessfully pushed Texas lawmakers to increase the state's per-student funding by $1,000 to keep up with inflationary cost increases, new inflation-adjusted figures from the federal government suggest that that base level finance should climb by about $1,400. view article

This is your weekly news roundup, which takes a quick look at some developments in government, politics, education, environment and other topics across El Paso. The Socorro Independent School District used more than half its savings between 2022 and 2024, and may need to spend more to cover its expenses. view article

Projections indicate Coppell ISD total enrollment could dip by 1,970 students by the 2034-35 school year.  The decline is due to limited future development and housing options for families with children and an over 300-student disparity between the 2024-25 graduating class and the 2024-25 kindergarten class, said Zonda Education demographer, Rocky Gardiner at a Dec. 9 meeting. The district has about 1,036 seniors and 711 kindergarten students.  “Statewide we have a kindergarten challenge; it's not just Coppell, it's happening everywhere,” Gardiner said. view article

Austin ISD officials and a community budget committee have spent the last few months working on a plan to eliminate a $92 million budget deficit over the next few years, exploring how to reduce spending, while minimizing any direct impact to the classroom. Superintendent Matias Segura underscored that goal during a school board meeting Thursday. view article

The North East Independent School District is looking to consolidate three campuses in an effort to combat declining enrollment. “I take our responsibility to our children and community seriously,” NEISD Superintendent Dr. Sean Maika wrote in an announcement sent out on Tuesday. “And while this is a difficult process, we must be good stewards of our taxpayer money. We, like other school districts across the state, have been losing enrollment, and have seen no increase in revenue since 2019. Consequently, some of our campuses are not being fully utilized and are inefficient.” view article

Five Lewisville elementary schools will close next year as the North Texas district confronts its declining enrollment. view article

As the Austin Independent School District faces a $92 million deficit-- district leaders have laid out ways to reduce expenses. In a virtual town hall Monday evening, AISD Chief Financial Officer, Katrina Montgomery, discussed possible solutions to their financial woes but first explained how the deficit reached dire levels. view article

Monday evening the Lewisville ISD Board of Trustees voted to permanently close five elementary schools. Not all votes were unanimous, but all carried. Several campuses will also undergo rezoning as part of the plan. The following changes will take effect for the 2025-26 school year. view article

Lewisville ISD board members voted Monday night to close five of its elementary schools, a cost-saving measure officials say the district needs as student enrollment continues to decline and state funding for schools is uncertain. It was a highly emotional meeting, with more than a dozen people taking to the lectern during the public comment section to beg elected leaders to delay a school consolidation plan. Some speakers joined board members in directing rage at the state Legislature, accusing politicians by name of starving public schools and hurting neighborhoods. Gov. Greg Abbott, state Sen. Tan Parker and state Reps. Ben Bumgarner and Mitch Little were all named as bad actors. view article

The Lewisville Independent School District’s board of trustees will once again discuss plans to close some schools due to falling enrollment and budget problems. It’s been the same story at a number of school districts around North Texas. And it’s never welcome news for parents, students, teachers, and support staff at the schools that are affected. view article

The Lubbock ISD School Board approved consolidation measures impacting at least six schools in the district on Wednesday night, after hearing about an hour and a half of public comment. The board approved the consolidation of Overton Elementary School into Rush Elementary School and O.L. Slaton Middle School into Dunbar College Academy and Atkins Middle School. view article

The number of students receiving special education services in Cy-Fair ISD has risen nearly 86% since the 2014-15 school year, while the district’s total enrollment increased by less than 5%, according to Texas Education Agency data. CFISD officials attribute this jump to Texas expanding special education qualifications. District administration has hired more staff to keep up with student evaluations and to ensure students receive the services they need, Chief Academic Officer Linda Macias said in an email. view article

The Lewisville ISD board is meeting Monday night and the "School Retirement and Boundary Adjustment Proposal" is the hot topic up for discussion. Facing a budget shortage and declining enrollment, the district’s Community Efficiency Committee and board considered possible solutions and put a plan forward. view article

The Fort Worth ISD school board approved just over $14 million in spending at its Nov. 12 meeting. The two largest purchases were related to campus operations. Trustees approved the district’s school resource officer program for the 2024-25 school year for $5.9 million and the purchase of audio-visual displays for up to $1.78 million. Trustee Kevin Lynch was absent. view article

Regional colleges rely more on tuition revenue to operate than flagship campuses. Gov. Greg Abbott’s desire to pause increases could create tight financial conditions.  “Texans face significant rising costs due to inflation,” Abbott wrote. “When inflation and other economic pressures burden household budgets, our public universities must take every step possible to ease the financial burden on our students and their families.”  But without additional funding from the Legislature, Abbott’s desire to freeze tuition at public universities for another two years could create a tight budget situation for many of them, especially regional institutions that rely more on tuition revenue compared to flagship campuses. That’s because they have smaller budgets and endowments, fewer research grants and fewer deep-pocketed donors to make massive gifts. Faculty and higher education experts say they’re worried the state won’t step up to make up the difference. view article

Texas lawmakers will have about $20 billion in unspent money going into the 89th legislative session, state Comptroller Glenn Hegar told members of the Austin Chamber on Dec. 12. view article

Round Rock ISD board members on June 17 adopted a $467.42 million general operating budget for fiscal year 2021-22. The general operating fund budget includes $444.53 million in revenues and $467.42 million in expenses, creating a deficit in this fund of $17.2 million, RRISD Chief Financial Officer Kenneth Adix said. view article

State lawmakers were prepared for a budget crunch, since the COVID-19 pandemic slashed revenues from sales taxes, energy taxes, and other sources. The question they now face is how to close the shortfall without choking off long-term growth.  The answer is far from clear, but it’s certain to involve cuts to popular programs.  In fact, such cuts are what's expected this session. The state comptroller's office says lawmakers need to close a shortfall of nearly $1 billion in revenues. And Republican state Sen. Brandon Creighton of Conroe, who serves on the Senate Finance Committee, noted that Gov. Greg Abbott has asked state agencies to reduce budgets by 5%. view article

Bryan ISD's Board of Trustees have approved a one-time $500 supplement for their salaried employees. Teachers, counselors, librarians, nurses, administrators and professional staff receive their pay bonus on their Dec 15 paycheck. view article

Texas pre-K programs are just scraping by after losing millions of dollars last year — and without sustainable funding, they could see greater problems down the line, school officials say. During the 2017 legislative session, lawmakers decided not to fund a $118 million high-quality pre-K grant program that was created in 2015 and championed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. The money had gone to 573 districts and charter schools that pledged to meet measures such as setting a lower student-teacher ratio, avoiding Common Core curricula and reporting student progress to the state. view article

Burnet school district officials were probably expecting to get more than two years from the synthetic turf installed at Bulldog Field in 2015, but that didn’t happen and it’s now set the district back $150,000. Burnet Consolidated Independent School District Superintendent Keith McBurnett, however, said the district is looking to get $105,000 back from one manufacturer. Last year, officials noticed some turf fibers sticking up higher than others, so they took a closer look, McBurnett said. “To most people, it probably wasn’t noticeable,” he said. “We had all the experts look at the field, and they looked at the backside. It needed to be replaced.” view article

On Saturday, voters who live within the Houston ISD will go to the polls to determine how - or if - the district will pay the state millions in "recapture" fees. Whatever voters decide on Proposition 1, the Houston ISD will take a financial hit, officials say. Recapture, and school finance, can be difficult to grasp. To help, here are the answers to some questions about the ballot measure. view article

The Round Rock school district awarded $1.9 million in grants to 34 campuses to help foster innovation in schools through programs, models or initiatives that enrich learning. The grants range from $7,500 to $100,000 and support the district’s strategic goal of implementing, enhancing and reinforcing innovative teachings and learning models, according to a district news release. view article

Fort Bend ISD is going to begin serving up something different for some students who continually fail to pay for their lunches -- a cold cheese sandwich with a side of milk, and that's not sitting well with some parents. We're not talking about students who qualify for free school meals. But apparently, these repeat offenders have gotten so "forgetful" that it's draining the district's budget by hundreds of thousands of dollars. view article

The Garland school district’s $453.8 million budget for 2015-16 passed this week. Here are the highlights: Taxes are going up: There’s a 10-cent per $100 valuation tax increase tied to theNovember 2014 passage of a $455 million bond package. Garland ISD previously had the second-lowest tax rate among 16 districts that tax in Dallas County; the bond will bring that closer to the midpoint. view article

The Lampasas Independent School District met Monday to discuss the district’s fiscal year 2016 budget and proposed tax rates. “My idea was still to give everyone a tax break, but to make it 1 cent right now, and we could change it in a year if we need to,” board member Sam Walker said. “I think we are jumping the gun by dropping it 2 cents.” view article

Marfa ISD is taking a proactive approach toward its potential Chapter 41 status, which would classify the district as a “rich” school. Chief Financial Officer Victoria Sanchez discussed with the board of trustees at the June 15 meeting five different options they could possibly choose for the Chapter 41 status and heavily stressed that the board should consider each option carefully as three of them would have permanent repercussions. view article

The Dallas Independent School District presented a draft version of a comprehensive plan for facilities and academic improvement to the board of trustees on Thursday. The long-range plan, which calls for $1.5 billion in funding, would be directed at school choice, pre-k expansion and career readiness, according to DISD officials. view article

Duncanville ISD thought it was getting a great deal when, one year ago this month, it switched electric providers and signed on with the State Power Program through the state's General Land Office. Just like that, Duncanville ISD's price-per-kilowatt hour dropped almost 20 percent, from 7.3 cents to a maximum of 6 cents. view article