Find out which 11 Dallas-area schools will shut their doors forever later this year are  Funding for the Texas public education system is in a bit of a crisis, and lawmakers on both sides of the political spectrum have filed bills that address the financial deficits witnessed in school districts across the state. Factors like testing scores and daily attendance affect the amount of funding a school receives, but enrollment is the heaviest hitter. Currently, schools receive a base allotment per student of $6,160, and no students means no money to offset high operational costs.  Enrollment is dropping, and school districts across North Texas anticipate a decline by several thousand students in the next few years. During the pandemic, when daily attendance declined tenfold, billions of dollars in federal funding flooded school districts through President Joe Biden’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief. But the well has dried, and districts everywhere are opting to shutter school doors permanently. view article

Aldine ISD’s proposal to close seven campuses at the end of the school year would spread about 3,400 elementary and middle students to new buildings throughout the district, a major change for children and families. District leaders say the closures would save an estimated $32.5 million annually, helping to close a large budget deficit largely caused by declining enrollment and no major increases in state funding. Aldine leaders previously closed three schools last year, leaving the district with about 75 campuses. view article

Find out which 11 Dallas-area schools will shut their doors forever later this year are  Funding for the Texas public education system is in a bit of a crisis, and lawmakers on both sides of the political spectrum have filed bills that address the financial deficits witnessed in school districts across the state. Factors like testing scores and daily attendance affect the amount of funding a school receives, but enrollment is the heaviest hitter. Currently, schools receive a base allotment per student of $6,160, and no students means no money to offset high operational costs.  Enrollment is dropping, and school districts across North Texas anticipate a decline by several thousand students in the next few years. During the pandemic, when daily attendance declined tenfold, billions of dollars in federal funding flooded school districts through President Joe Biden’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief. But the well has dried, and districts everywhere are opting to shutter school doors permanently. view article

Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker opposes an idea being bandied about by Keller ISD trustees that would see the north Tarrant County district split into two separate independent school districts. Keller ISD has not formally discussed nor proposed the district division. Social media posts circulating said the school board would divide the district along Denton Highway, with the creation of a new Alliance ISD to the west and a shrunken Keller ISD to the east. view article

San Antonio students could wake up to wintry weather on Thursday but they shouldn’t get their hopes up for a day off from school. A strong arctic cold front and low-pressure system moving through the Lone Star State is expected to bring rain, ice or sleet to the region this week. After informing families about potential school closures or delays, most area school districts said Wednesday afternoon that they did not anticipate any changes to scheduling. view article

Katy ISD librarians have been instructed to steer students away from more than 400 books with LGBTQ+ themes, even though the school district hasn't yet officially banned the titles, records show. Under Katy ISD’s book banning policy, books that are flagged for review are to remain on library shelves until they’re officially banned. But internal district emails show that students are being denied access to about 450 titles while the books await review. view article

Amarillo ISD officials informed parents that schools are anticipated to open for a normal start time tomorrow. According to AISD, based on the National Weather Service’s latest winter storm model Amarillo residents morning travels is not expected to be impacted significantly. Officials detailed that multiple bands of snow are expected to fall during the day tomorrow, which may then impact road conditions for drivers. AISD said additional updates will be provided if necessary. view article

The Conroe Independent School District board of trustees is weighing a controversial Bible focused curriculum. During a more than five hour special meeting on Tuesday, some school board members signaled interest in adopting the curriculum, while public speakers urged members to refrain from approving the lessons. view article

With winter storms heading to East Texas, ISD Superintendents and their staff must decide whether or not to close schools. KLTV’s JD Conte spoke to Tyler ISD’s Marty Crawford, Mineola ISD’s Cody Mize, and Lindale’s Stan Surratt. Smith County ISD Superintendents will meet this afternoon to discuss their weather-related plans. view article

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As a winter storm approaches North Texas, here are the school districts that have announced closures for Thursday: view article

With wintry weather targeting East Texas, many school districts may to delay or cancel classes for Thursday, Jan. 9 and Friday, Jan. 10. view article

Keller school trustees are eyeing a possible plan to split the district in two, according to Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker and council member Charlie Lauersdorf. Lauersdorf, whose district includes the Keller schools, said Jan. 8 he was assured by a school board member that trustees were merely examining the possibility of a split at a special Jan. 16 meeting. Read more at: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/education/article298174083.html#storylink=cpy view article

Austin Independent School District phone lines are down due to an outage with the vendor, according to the district. AISD sent an alert to families Thursday morning notifying them of the outage. The alert read, “Austin ISD phone lines are down due to an outage with our vendor. Please connect with your campus via email or in-person. In case of an emergency, use a cell phone to call 911. Check your email for more information.” view article

Schools in North Texas are carefully watching the forecast before making the call on whether to cancel classes on Thursday and Friday. Given that the weather forecast calls for several inches of snow in the Metroplex, many families may be wondering why school districts haven’t already made a decision to close schools. view article

In Texas, undocumented people have built apartment complexes and skyscrapers that changed skylines. They have picked fruits and vegetable in fields, cooked in restaurant kitchens, cleaned hospitals and started small businesses. They have become stitched into communities from El Paso to Beaumont. view article

Hartzell leaves UT-Austin after four years of tense political battles and legislative efforts to implement a more conservative vision of public higher ed.   view article

Some El Paso-area school districts are announcing cancellations and delays as thousands of students were scheduled to head back to school on Wednesday, Jan. 8, amid plunging temperatures and possible snow. view article

Below is the current list of school closings and delays announced for the San Antonio and South Texas area due to anticipated winter weather the week of Jan. 6-10, 2025. View the latest weather forecast. view article

Disconcerting announcements about shrinking enrollment in North Texas schools continue to roll out. News in Coppell ISD once again highlights the need for school districts to plan ahead for lower enrollment and therefore lower attendance dollars from the state. This newspaper recently reported about the Lewisville ISD’s decision to close five schools. Also this month, Coppell school board members got a hard pill to swallow when their demographer projected lower-than-expected enrollment numbers for the next decade, as reported by the Coppell Chronicle newsletter. view article

If you think it's going to be a cold, miserable morning at the bus stops on Tuesday... wait until later this week when it's cold, WET and miserable. The holidays are over and Austin ISD's nearly 74,000 students are heading back-to-back to school this week. The schools are hoping to avoid icy weather later this week, but they're ready. Austin ISD has about 500 buses transporting every school day. Their operations can be severely impacted when the roads turn treacherous. That's not expected today... and may not happen this week... but winter is just getting started. view article

The San Antonio Independent School District upped the ante Monday night in its negotiations with developers over a deal to sell its 2-acre parking lot.  view article

Denton ISD isn’t considering adopting a controversial new elementary school curriculum. Bluebonnet Learning is a curriculum developed by the Texas Education Agency that was approved by eight of the 15 members of the State Board of Education last November. view article

Houston ISD has undergone several big changes in the 2024-25 school year, including updates to the district’s bus routes, academic calendar and teacher pay. Among the largest changes implemented since the beginning of the school year include alterations to bus routes and pickup points for roughly 3,000 students enrolled in the district's school choice program. view article

No announcement has been made about how upcoming winter weather will affect students going back to school after winter break, but Fort Worth ISD already has a plan in place in the event of winter weather. The National Weather Service Fort Worth is tracking a cold front that will bring arctic air to the region on Sunday, Jan. 5, and into next week. High temperatures are forecast to be in the 40s, with lows in the 20s and low chances for wintry precipitation.  view article

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With the roof of Walt Disney Elementary destroyed and classrooms in disarray, Mayor Kevin Cole is calling on the community to donate supplies and funds to aid in the recovery process. view article

Rusk ISD is extending Christmas Break for GW Bradford Primary school while repairs take place. According to RISD, significant water damage was caused to the campus by a broken pipe. A statement from the school announced winter break would be extended to preschool students at GW Bradford Primary by one week. 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

Amid declining enrollment across Amarillo, the Amarillo ISD Board of Trustees has decided to close the district’s three smallest elementary schools. Park Hills Elementary, Pleasant Valley Elementary and Sunrise Elementary will be closed at the end of the 2024-2025 school year. The decision came after years of declining enrollment, with eight schools being placed on the watchlist for consideration of closure and consolidation. view article

Michael Richardson speaks with Tyler ISD Superintendent Dr. Marty Crawford about the approved school year calendar, district vehicle purchases, and renovations coming to the A.T. Stewart Campus. view article

The Dripping Springs Independent School District Board of Trustees approved a motion to move forward with new boundary attendance zones in a 5-2 vote. After more than 30 minutes of discussion for the approval, board members approved that vote for the re-zoning. view article

Like hundreds of other high school students in Leander ISD, Aarohie Nimje enjoys spending time with her family and friends, creating art, reading, and dancing. But Aarohie is also one of only 267 students in the district who are on track to graduate with both their high school diploma and an associate degree at the same time. This is the opportunity that Leander ISD’s Early College High School (ECHS) provides. Thanks to the district’s partnership with Austin Community College (ACC), scholars enrolled in ECHS are able to earn an associate degree tuition-free before they even walk the stage at their high school graduation, preparing them to continue their higher education journey or for anything else they want to pursue. ECHS is located at the ACC San Gabriel campus in Leander. Scholars are taught their high school classes by LISD teachers and their college courses by ACC professors. view article

Suburban counties around Houston continued to experience a population boom last year that has far outpaced the city’s relatively flat rate of growth, according to the most recent U.S. Census data released Thursday. view article

After a year of uncertainty, members of the La Joya ISD chapter of the Association of Texas Professional Educators said they’re worried about a job in the next school year. In November, the trustees with the La Joya ISD School Board discussed a proposal to consolidate its four early college high schools into one. The district cited a need to improve graduation rates and to get rid of extra programs as some of the reasons to move forward with the proposed consolidation. view article