This fortnight’s school news you can use, since it took about two weeks to generate this many stories over the summer break.
- First, from the Dallas Morning News: Texas can release 2024 A-F grades for schools, court rules. Also in the Star-Telegram: Texas can release 2024 A-F grades for schools, court rules. The Star-Telegram notes that Fort Worth ISD was not part of the 2024 lawsuit, and had already released accountability data for that year. The decision on whether the state will take over Fort Worth ISD is on hold until the 2025 data arrives in August.
- Dallas Observer: Texas Schools Add Attack Drones To Protect Students. Apart from the expense, which is always an issue, the folks trying to get this project off the ground are aware of and actively working against the possibility of hacking. The CEO of the company behind this project started his career in cybersecurity.
- Star-Telegram: Federal judge sides with Aledo ISD in disability rights case. I don’t understand all the intricacies of the ADA and schools, but I admit that on the one hand the school probably ought to have some way to assess kids to determine their needs, and that on the other hand the IQ test Aledo ISD wants to give a four-year-old isn’t the best assessment of her abilities.
- DMN: Dallas ISD left with $22 million gap after Trump education funding freeze. This is what our tax dollars aren’t doing. They’re going to billionaire and corporate tax cuts instead.
- DMN: Joyce Foreman has one donor: Ruel Hamilton. Foreman represents part of South Dallas on the DISD board (District 6); Hamilton is a developer of apartment complexes. He was convicted in 2021 of bribing two (by then former) Dallas City Council members to support projects he was developing in southern Dallas. Click through for details that make it sound even worse.
- Star-Telegram: Fort Worth ISD closing Charles E. Nash Elementary, named for hardware store owner. One more school profile of a school that demographics and finances are killing in FWISD.
- Star-Telegram: Federal education funding freeze leaves millions in limbo for Fort Worth schools and in the Fort Worth Report: FWISD mentoring, college readiness programs at risk after feds delay $6.8B. More of the things our tax dollars are not buying so billionaires can have tax cuts.
- Fort Worth Report: Mansfield ISD adopts largest budget deficit in 10 years as it navigates new funding laws. It’s $13 million on a $400+ million general fund budget.
- Star-Telegram: Former Millsap ISD educators indicted in abuse of autistic student: prosecutor. Apparently there was viral video of the teacher yelling at the child, throwing things at him, and attempting to slap his face. According to earlier stories on the same topic, the child, who is nonverbal and autistic, was aged 10. I’m not clear on who hit the child but the failure to report charges are mostly misdemeanors (one is a felony).