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Sept. 24, 2026
Houston ISD directs schools to cut staff and slash spending amid higher than expected enrollment losses

(Texas Tribune) The announcement comes after a Texas Tribune investigation revealed the reforms the district’s state-appointed superintendent implemented, known as the New Education System, are straining finances.

‘I don’t see it getting any better’: Why Valley public school enrollment continues to decline

(ValleyCentral) Several Rio Grande Valley school districts have steadily lost enrollment since 2020, per TEA data cited by ValleyCentral — Brownsville ISD the hardest hit (nearly 6,000 students), followed by McAllen ISD (2,200+). School attorney Jay Pena attributes this to a durable trend, not a pandemic blip: falling birth rates, competition from charter schools, and families relocating — including some leaving areas with heavy Border Patrol/ICE presence — with elementary and middle grades affected most. Since state funding follows enrollment and attendance, shrinking districts face budget pressure that can trigger TEA intervention (as at La Joya ISD), pushing officials like Mission CISD’s superintendent to say public schools must now actively market themselves.

Schools in Fort Worth ISD are getting security upgrades. Who pays after the first year?

(Fort Worth Report) A $1 million donation covers the first year of Fort Worth ISD’s Centegix contract. After that, leaders are banking on philanthropy.

Iran war sends Austin ISD diesel costs soaring

(Axios) The pain over spiking nationwide diesel prices, driven by the Iran war, has extended to Austin public schools. Why it matters: Austin ISD, like so many school districts in Texas, is already feeling a budget crunch, scrambling to save schools and staff jobs.

Lamar CISD Trustees Unanimously Approve $10.1 Billion Tesla Solar Plant Tax Incentive

(Texas Scorecard) A proposed $10.1 billion Tesla solar plant in Fort Bend County cleared the school district’s part of the state approval process and the application is now headed to Gov. Greg Abbott’s office.

Teen in custody after deadly shooting outside Spring ISD high school

(Houston Public Media) A 14-year-old-boy was taken into custody on Wednesday in connection with the deadly shooting of another teenager just outside Westfield High School in Spring ISD, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said on Tuesday. The victim was identified as 15-year-old Royce Witchet, a student at Westfield. Around 2:40 p.m. on Tuesday, law enforcement began responding to calls that a boy had been shot. He was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The boy taken into custody is also believed to be a student in Spring ISD, Gonzalez said in a post on social media.

Boyd ISD says staff responded ‘appropriately’ to alleged violent hazing incident

(KERA) Boyd ISD leaders say their staff did not mishandle an alleged hazing incident that took place earlier this month in a Boyd High School locker room. In a statement released on social media, the district defended the school and the staff accused of downplaying and ignoring the allegedly violent locker room incident. The four alleged attackers — two juveniles and two of adult age — were arrested on Sept. 16 for injury to a child causing bodily injury and unlawful restraint of a child, both felonies.

Petition calls for Texas Leadership Charter Academy San Angelo coaches’ side to be heard after indictments

(Fox West Texas) Supporters of the five former TLCA San Angelo coaches charged in connection with a February punishment workout are asking for the coaches’ side of the story to be heard. Supporters said they want the coaches’ accounts of what happened, their intentions, the instructions they received, what they observed, actions taken when concerns arose and their response to the allegations.

College Station ISD custodian arrested on child pornography charges

(KBTX) A College Station ISD custodian was arrested Wednesday on promotion and possession of child pornography charges, according to the district. Gerardo Gonzalez, 22, of College Station, was an evening custodian at Greens Prairie Elementary School, according to the district. He was hired in February 2025 and was terminated immediately when district officials were notified of his arrest. The Brazos County Sheriff’s Office is investigating, and CSISD administration says there’s no indication that any students were involved or connected.

16-year-old Odem-Edroy ISD student detained after threatening to shoot up school, sheriff says

(KIII) Sheriff Oscar Rivera said the student made the threat after allegedly being bullied by three other students. No weapons were found.

Socorro ISD Educator Charged With Raping Boy He Met Online

(Texas Scorecard) An El Paso educator is charged with sneaking into a home and raping a 14-year-old boy he met on a dating app. Armando Guadalupe Saucedo, 38, is a diagnostician at Vista Del Sol Environmental Science Academy, an elementary campus in the Socorro Independent School District. El Paso police arrested Saucedo after the boy’s mother allegedly found the educator hiding in her son’s closet.

A dozen Texas universities earn D,F grades on free speech report card, advocacy group says

(Texas Tribune) Seven Texas universities failed a free speech report card while five others earned Ds, according to a national advocacy group’s annual review. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE, based its grades on surveys of undergraduates, policies governing student expression and how schools handled controversies involving students, faculty and campus events.

Aggravated assault charge filed against former TCU player by Tarrant County DA

(Fox 4 KDFW) On September 23, the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office filed an aggravated assault charge against former TCU safety Jacob Fields. Fields’ charge stems from an August 13 locker room incident where Fields is accused of striking TCU wide receiver Dozie Ezukanma in the head. Ezukanma suffered a concussion and spent three days in the hospital with a brain bleed following the incident. Fields turned himself in to authorities on August 30.

Student journalist sues University of Texas at Dallas for First Amendment violations

(Dallas Observer) On Oct. 15, 2024, former editor-in-chief of The Mercury, Gregorio Olivares Gutierrez, received an email from the University of Texas at Dallas administration saying he was under investigation for discrimination. This was the day he knew he would have to pursue legal action against the college. Olivares Gutierrez, a current UTD student, filed a lawsuit against the school’s administration last week for free speech and press freedom violations. 

Remains of missing Texas State student identified nearly six years after disappearance

(KBTX) Human remains recently discovered in Caldwell County have been conclusively identified as Jason Landry, the Texas State University student who disappeared nearly six years ago following a car crash, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Wednesday. Landry, then 21, vanished on Dec. 13, 2020, while driving from San Marcos to his family home in Missouri City, Texas for the holidays. Investigators noted that the skeletal remains did not provide additional insight into the cause or manner of death, and officials have found no indication of foul play.

Austin-area colleges see enrollment growth in fall 2026, including at UT Austin and Texas State

(Austin American-Statesman) Most central Texas colleges added students this fall, though a few campuses saw smaller or declining enrollments.

Hotels sued over alleged sex trafficking of teen linked to Klein ISD Cain High School prostitution case

(KPRC) Attorneys for a woman identified as Jane Doe have filed a federal lawsuit against several Houston-area hotel operators, including Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, alleging the businesses enabled and profited from a sex-trafficking scheme allegedly organized by a former Klein Cain High School teacher and her adult son. Jane Doe is represented by civil rights attorneys Bakari Sellers and Jonathan Jackson. The lawsuit alleges she was 17 when she was lured from her home and forced into a life of violence, repeated sexual assault and commercial sex trafficking.

Hereford ISD junior high football player airlifted to Lubbock after injury awake, talking

(KVII) A Hereford ISD junior high football player is awake and talking after being airlifted to Lubbock following an injury during Tuesday night’s game against Canyon West Plains. Superintendent Dr. Ralph Carter said the student-athlete became unconscious at the end of the game. As of 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, the student had been extubated and taken off sedation. He was awake, following commands and talking, and was expected to remain under observation for at least 24 hours.

Pasadena ISD school bus caught fire after football game, team evacuated by coaches

(Fox 26 Houston) A Pasadena ISD school bus carrying the Queens Intermediate football team caught fire due to a mechanical issue while they were returning from a game. The coaches were able to evacuate all the students safely before the fire broke out. The cause of the mechanical failure remains under investigation by local authorities. The students were taken from the scene by a METRO city bus and the coaches stayed with them until every student was safely reconnected with their family.

5 pigs killed in dog attack at Kress ISD ag farm; donations sought

(KVII) Five pigs were killed and another was injured after dogs attacked animals at the Kress Independent School District agricultural farm Tuesday morning. Superintendent Leah Zeigler said the farm is used by Kress ISD 4-H students, and the pigs were student project animals. The surviving pig was being treated for its injuries. A school resource officer shot and killed one dog, which will be tested for rabies, according to the district. A second dog ran away.

State error in Texas creates huge backlog in voter registration applications as midterm voting nears

(AP) County election offices throughout Texas are scrambling to process a massive backlog of voter registration applications stemming from an error at the state level, a headache that is hitting just as they are preparing for voting to begin in the midterm elections. The problem, which officials in the Republican-controlled state have not publicly defined, also could have disenfranchised people who wanted to vote in the state’s March primary but whose registration applications were never processed, local election officials said during a news conference Wednesday.

Education Department announces earliest FAFSA launch in program history

(The Hill) The Education Department announced Wednesday the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms for the 2027-2028 school year were open for students, the earliest the forms have been available. The FAFSA forms, which traditionally opened Oct. 1, had a few chaotic starts under the Biden administration while reforms were made to the applications, leaving schools and students in a time crunch.

Feds target school internet subsidies in ed-tech backlash even as Trump touts AI

(Chalkbeat) E-Rate is the fifth-largest source of federal funding for schools. Now it’s in the crosshairs of the backlash to ed tech.

Texas Private Schools Are Getting Website Privacy Demand Letters: 3 Steps You Can Take Before You Get One

(JDSupra) The Texas Attorney General just warned businesses and nonprofits about a surge of demand letters claiming that routine website tools violate a California privacy law, and private and independent schools in Texas should read that September 17 warning as if it were addressed directly to them.

Permanent daylight saving time? Schools and students would suffer, experts say

(The Hill) A major hurdle stands in the way of permanent daylight saving time: schools. Despite momentum from the White House, lawmakers in the lower chamber and nearly 20 states to stop switching the clocks, the Senate does not seem ready to make the leap — largely because of how schools would be affected by the change. Sunrise coming after 8 a.m. is an unattractive option for many, including sleep experts who warn of the health implications for both students and educators because most schools begin the day earlier than that.

Half of Texas families have someone skipping meals or eating less as food costs rise, new poll says

(KERA) Half of Texas families surveyed reported via a No Kid Hungry Texas poll that at least one member of the household is skipping meals or eating less because of concerns about cost. Advocates warn food insecurity and the effects of inflation could worsen as federal changes to food assistance programs, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, go into effect.

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