In his bid to free a convicted child-killer from death row, State Rep. Jeff Leach could find himself in hot water after texting a judge on the Court of Criminal Appeals in violation of Texas law.  view article

Family members of Nikki Curtis, the 2-year-old murdered by Robert Roberson, have written to the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee blasting the “one-sided” portrayal given of the killer in their attempt to exonerate him. view article

Over 1,000 inmates are being detained in the county jail before being taken into ICE custody.   view article

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals accused state Rep. Jeff Leach of privately attempting to sway a judge on the state's highest criminal court to reconsider their vote in a previous decision and grant death row inmate Robert Roberson a new trial, a "clear violation" of the state ethics code for attorneys, according to a letter the court sent Friday that Leach confirmed Monday.  Leach, a Republican from Plano who is an attorney, texted a judge on the Criminal Appeals Court: "One Judge. That's all that's needed to simply say... there are too many questions and too many holes and too much uncertainty... and Robert Roberson deserves a new trial," according to the court's letter. view article

Dozens of Fort Worth ISD seniors received a special surprise Monday when they were handed scholarships along with their college acceptance letters. They were even more surprised to learn the amount of funding they're getting. view article

Communities in Schools of the Coastal Bend aims to remove obstacles to education, delivering mental health support, family engagement, enrichment and academic support. During a Corpus Christi Independent School District school board committee meeting Monday afternoon, Gloria Taylor, chief executive officer of Community in Schools of the Coastal Bend, shared an annual report on the organization's activities in CCISD. view article

For the first time in 26 years, KENS 5 and Credit Human are doubling down on educators with the EXCEL Award. The winner now receives a $2,000 check. view article

Clifton ISD has announced on Facebook that the district will not hold school in support of the marching band’s state competition on Nov. 6. The competition will be held at the Alamodome Stadium in San Antonio, and the district said the reason it is canceling school for the day is to allow students and staff the option to support the band members at the competition. view article

The principal of Riverside Elementary School in Sunland Park, New Mexico, has died unexpectedly, Gadsden Independent School District said Sunday night, Oct. 27. Vicente Sanchez, principal at Riverside ES, died at his home on Sunday night, the district said. The district did not offer any other details. view article

Coppell ISD approved a resolution on Oct. 23 to move the elementary International Baccalaureate (IB) program to Wilson Elementary, consolidate the Dual Language Immersion (DLI) program to Denton Creek Elementary and for Pre-K programs be leveled across the district. This action was taken as a result of the Board’s September 30 decision to consolidate Pinkerton Elementary. view article

An East Texas high school football coach has been suspended for the remainder of the 2024 season after the University Interscholastic League (UIL) found he violated rules set forth by the state's public school extra-curricular activities governing body. During a meeting of the UIL State Executive Committee on Thursday, Westwood ISD head coach Richard Bishop was suspended from all football-related activities and placed on probation for the remainder of the 2024-25 school year. He was also publicly reprimanded. view article

A school district once had students required to pay $1 to receive a new hallway pass if it was lost. Crystal City ISD, located about two hours southwest of San Antonio, only give one paper hallway pass each month to students. The pass allows students to leave the classroom for restroom breaks or other reasons requiring them to exit during class time. view article

Another North Texas school district is considering closing schools due to budget constraints and declining enrollment. Lewisville ISD is considering potentially closing five elementary schools: B.B. Owen Elementary, Creekside Elementary, Garden Ridge Elementary, Highland Village Elementary and Polser STEM Academy. view article

Recently, Leadership Round Rock participated in K-12 Day, a collaborative event with Round Rock ISD and the Round Rock Chamber of Commerce designed to highlight the district’s innovative educational programs. The group visited several campuses to see firsthand the unique approaches to student engagement and learning implemented within our district. view article

Tarrant County’s voting machines are incapable of changing voters’ ballots, according to the manufacturer. “Tarrant County’s voting devices are among the most secure in the nation and do not ‘flip votes,’” said a spokesperson for Hart InterCivic in an emailed statement. “The devices are tested and certified at the state and federal level and were successfully tested locally in Tarrant County prior to the start of Early Voting.” The company is aware of reports of a Tarrant County man who said a voting machine changed his choice for president at the White Settlement Library on Monday, Oct. 21, and it is taking the allegation seriously, the spokesperson said. “Hart voting machines cannot and do not ‘flip’ votes,” the statement read. view article

On Wednesday, students from Tom Bean ISD spent the day volunteering at different locations across Texoma as part of their second annual day of service. “It‘s really just a way for us to not only serve the community, but for our students to understand the value and the impact that they can have on the community as well,” Tom Bean’s director of academics and student services Emily Chapman said. view article

Whitney ISD released a statement after multiple issues with fans interacting with officials during their football games. In the statement, the district said last week head coach and Athletic Director David Haynes Jr. was warned that he would be ejected from the game if Whitney ISD fans did not calm down. At the end of that game, Whitney ISD says a fan came onto the field and confronted the officials by cursing at them. view article

It’s 7 p.m. on a school night at South Oak Cliff High School, and it’s dark out. Classes ended hours ago, but the cheer team’s still in the parking lot practicing as band members blow their horns in and out of the band room. It’s not quiet in the auditorium either. District 9 trustees Edward Turner and District 5 trustee Maxie Johnson share a microphone, taking turns as they explain the meeting’s purpose to about three dozen people in attendance. They’re parents, students, community members, and even some SOC alums, teachers and other employees. view article

Fort Bend ISD is fast-tracking the reversal of a hotly contested class ranking policy that orders students based on the school they are zoned to attend, rather than the campus they actually attend. After hearing from more than 40 concerned parents and student, the district's Board of Trustees voted to eliminate the policy in 2026 rather than 2028. The new rule passed in 2019 and first impacted the graduating class of 2024. view article

The plan for the refurbished Battleship Texas to berth as a museum ship at the Port of Galveston, probably in the Pier 21 area, has run aground. The Galveston County Daily News reported Tuesday afternoon that the Wharves Board of Trustees has voted to kill its proposed deal with the Battleship Texas Foundation, the ship's nonprofit caretakers. view article

The Biden-Harris administration has overseen 8.4 million encounters since assuming office in January of 2021.  Todd Bensman, senior fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, posited that the deal was made to improve optics for the Biden-Harris re-election campaign. Immigration has polled as a key issue for American voters amid the border crisis.  Since February of 2021, there have been 8,427,854 encounters at the southwest border. However, an additional 1.38 million foreign nationals have been allowed to enter the country through the CBP One app or CHNV parole program in the past two years. That number is not counted in the official tally of encounters, since these controversial programs created by the Biden-Harris administration are currently legal pathways into the country.  view article

A Humble ISD mother is demanding answers and seeking legal action after claiming that a teacher physically mishandled her autistic daughter at Cambridge School, leaving the child traumatized. The incident occurred a month ago and was captured on video, which has since prompted the mother to file reports with the authorities. view article

Round Rock ISD has strengthened its dyslexia support program by developing two new in-district trainers certified in State Board of Education (SBOE) approved dyslexia programs. These efforts are part of the district’s initiative to enhance instruction for students with dyslexia, ensuring they receive high-quality, multisensory language instruction. view article

While most national attention is on the top-of-the-ticket race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, control of Congress will be equally consequential. view article

EdChoice’s new report shows that school choice could save the state money in the long run.   view article

Lubbock ISD is considering its future, while juggling declining enrollment, aging facilities and a limited budget. Some parents have taken to Facebook, posting and commenting concerns the future could mean the closure of their child’s school. One post, including four slides from a recent presentation showing possibilities for Lubbock ISD to consolidate some of its schools, garnered 280 comments and nearly that many shares. Superintendent Dr. Kathy Rollo addressed those concerns Thursday afternoon, saying the district has to consider its future. view article

The Seguin Independent School District's community is once again grieving following the death of two students. The losses come less than three months since the death of a high school senior. Seguin ISD announced the deaths in a Facebook post on Thursday afternoon, October 17, saying the district was "hurting with the loss of two members of the Matador family." MySA reached out to Seguin ISD who confirmed the two people who died were students at the district. view article

The School Health Advisory Council, or SHAC, was approved at Clear Creek ISD’s board of trustees’ Oct. 14 meeting. SHAC is a group of district and community members tasked “to ensure that CCISD's school health programs reflect local community values,” according to district agenda documents. Those values tie into the council’s role in considering physical activity and fitness programming, and developing mental health services, among other tasks, according to district documents. view article

Two researchers presented data before a Texas Senate committee showing that the state law targeting global climate agenda policies in state investments and contracts is working as intended.   view article

Resources include a section on “examining whiteness.”  The Texas A&M-San Antonio University Library highlights “anti-racist” research guides in their online book selections.  view article

More than a dozen Grand Prairie ISD community members spoke out in defense of suspended Superintendent Jorge Arredondo Thursday night – and criticized the school board’s decision to place him on leave just two months into the job. Thursday’s school board meeting was the first after Arredondo sued the district, alleging it violated his contractual and constitutional rights. view article

Five-year-old Za’Hir Johnson died this Monday from the injuries he sustained after being hit by a car last Wednesday on Lake Shore Drive in Waco. 25 News’ Lauren Adams spoke to his family, and they say they don’t want the driver who hit him to carry any burden from the incident. view article

Conroe ISD’s self-described "mama bear" trustees’ attempt to block books they deem inappropriate from returning to library and classroom shelves proved unsuccessful Tuesday night. Trustees Melissa Dungan and Tiffany Nelson, known for their efforts to infuse their Christian, conservative ideals into district policies and procedures, voted against altering the district’s restrictive book policies. Misty Odenweller, a member of the three-pronged group, was absent. view article

An employee at Normangee ISD has been placed on administrative leave as the district investigates allegations of inappropriate behavior with a student, district officials confirmed Wednesday. However, frustration is growing among parents who feel they were not informed quickly enough about the situation. view article

During Tuesday evening’s workshop meeting, the College Station ISD Board of Trustees heard more about a new plan to incentivize campuses to boost its average daily attendance rate. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, schools across the nation have seen a rise in what‘s called ’chronic absenteeism,' which was defined by the district as when a student misses more than 10% of school days. view article