Schools: Coppell ISD – Dispatches from Dallas

School District Sunday – 2025 05 18

Two weeks’ worth of school news this time, covering the Lege, the outcome of the May elections, and the state’s proposed takeover of Fort Worth ISD as well as the usual roundup of district news.

Texas Tribune: Private school vouchers are now law in Texas. Here’s how they will work. This is what the Republicans wanted; they got it. On their heads be the outcome.
Meanwhile, we have to finance our public schools. Dallas Morning News: Texas Senate school finance plan slashes per-student bump, outlines teacher pay raises; and KERA: Clock is ticking for Texas lawmakers to settle on $8 billion public school funding package. Everyone wants tell public schools about how to run facilities and hiring and student-teacher ratios, but nobody wants to spend tax money. Certainly not when we’re already paying part of the tuition for kids leaving the public school system!
Related, from the DMN: State or local control? Historic Texas school finance plan offers differing approaches. Like every other pie the Lege has its fingers in, they want to put their greasy hands on the controls.
Also in the Lege, via the Star-Telegram: Bill prompted by Keller school district’s proposed split stalls in Texas House. It’s the part of the session where bills start falling away.
Star-Telegram: As Texas population booms, classrooms are empty. What’s happening? Demographics (aging populations and baby busts as Gen X’s Zoomer kids start reproducing) and economics (when times are hard, people delay marriage and childbearing).
Moving on to the results of the May 3 elections, from KERA: North Texas voters support billions of dollars in school bonds. A good list.
Texas Tribune: School board races across Texas deal losses for many conservatives. Their subhead: “Issues about control of book purchases and how curriculums teach race and gender have led to change on many boards, including Keller, Katy and Mansfield ISDs.” There’s a lot to say about this but this article will cover it for school board purposes. The Tarrant County GOP, in particular, seems to have bitten off more than it could chew in May.
DMN: Here’s what to know about Texas’ school safety policies. The Lege has a lot of instructions about what schools and districts should be doing but they don’t want to finance it. This is what the education folks call “unfunded mandates”.
Three articles covering Attorney General Ken Paxton’s decision to drop his lawsuit against Coppell ISD for illegally teaching critical race theory. First, KERA: Texas AG Paxton drops ‘critical race theory’ lawsuit against Coppell ISD. Second, the DMN: ‘Critical race theory’ lawsuit against Coppell ISD resolved, Texas AG Ken Paxton says. And the Texas Tribune: Ken Paxton drops “critical race theory” lawsuit against Coppell ISD. We all know what happened here: a right-wing rage factory whipped up some fury with a heavily-edited videotape, letting Ken Paxton throw some red meat to the hard right Republican senate primary voters, while not actually doing anything other than wasting the time of his lawyers, the district’s lawyers, and the district’s staff, plus the money to pay them all. Our tax dollars at work.
We have several stories about Dallas ISD:
- DMN: After Wilmer-Hutchins shooting, Dallas school leaders want to crack down on propped doors. That’s how the Wilmer-Hutchins shooter got into the school with the gun. Also, from KERA: Dallas ISD considering student code of conduct update after school shooting.
- DMN: Dallas ISD superintendent praises effort to eliminate STAAR. I don’t think anyone likes the STAAR tests.
- DMN: Dallas schools strike DEI language from district site. Not what you want to hear, but these are the times we live in.
Meanwhile, in Fort Worth ISD, first about the threatened state takeover, proposed school closures, and the dreaded budget:
- Star-Telegram: Texas Education Agency notifies Fort Worth ISD of potential state takeover. Also in the Fort Worth Report: Texas tells Fort Worth ISD ‘compulsory’ intervention required after string of failures at shuttered school and the DMN: Fort Worth schools at risk of state takeover, Texas education commissioner warns. Fort Worth ISD has already closed the school, but the Texas Education Agency claims that the five consecutive failures trigger the state takeover regardless of the status of the school that started the problem.
- Star-Telegram: ‘Time to turn the corner’: Lawmakers express support for TEA action in FWISD. Unsurprisingly, the pro-takeover lawmakers are Republican state legislators. Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker (also a Republican) has confidence in the new superintendent.
- Star-Telegram editorial: If state wants to take over Fort Worth schools, it needs a better case than this | Opinion. The Star-Telegram thinks the Houston cure is worse than the disease for Fort Worth schools.
- Two items on proposed closures starting with the Fort Worth Report: Fort Worth ISD proposes the closure of these schools. Here’s why — and where and the Star-Telegram: Fort Worth ISD school closures could save millions. But would they help students?. The school closure plan will be on the agenda for the May 20 board meeting.
- Star-Telegram editorial: No one wants to close schools. But here’s why Fort Worth ISD’s plan works | Opinion. I get the feeling that the powers that be at the Star-Telegram are pretty tight with Mayor Parker as far as city plans go.
- Somewhat related from Candy’s Dirt: Schools Top the List of Historic Fort Worth’s Most Endangered Places.
- Fort Worth Report: What to know as Fort Worth ISD works on its 2025-26 school year budget.
- Fort Worth Report: Fort Worth ISD dedicated $22.7M to literacy efforts. Here’s what a school finance expert thinks. A pretty interesting look at how FWISD is planning over multiple years to ensure the best teachers in the district are working directly with students instead of getting promoted out of the classroom.
DMN: ‘Misinformation’: Frisco ISD says Karmelo Anthony won’t participate in grad ceremony. This is the senior who allegedly stabbed Austin Metcalf to death at a UIL track meet. They’re giving him his diploma but he won’t be allowed to walk. There’s been a lot of social media BS about this case, so the district made an announcement.
Star-Telegram: Keller school board officially quashes plan to split district. Finalizing something we knew was happening.
Related, a Star-Telegram editorial: Keller ISD shows harm of officials working in secret. DAs must keep them honest | Opinion. This is about the lingering Open Meetings Act lawsuit.
DMN: $115K poured into two Prosper ISD trustee campaigns that failed. Who spent the money?. The answer is that the Accountable Leadership Committee PAC was from out of state and spent money in races around the country, so we still don’t know. The Texas Ethics Commission is looking into allegations against the PAC.
Three from the Star-Telegram about Southlake Caroll ISD: Southlake Carroll ISD faces backlash after personnel decisions; Carroll ISD students crushed beloved principal won’t be handing them their diplomas; and Dallas Mavericks assistant slams Carroll ISD for dismissing basketball coaches. Two principals didn’t get contract renewals; a coach and a choir director were reassigned; and one coach was sacked over “sideline demeanor and use of profanity.” These were all well-loved school leaders and the board didn’t take that into account. I gather that’s normal for the Carroll board; maybe getting in a lot of trouble with parents who are voters will make a dent in their high-handed ways.

School District Sunday – 2025 04 13

Star-Telegram: Tarrant County schools, cities urge appraisal district changes, say millions at risk. This is about the Tarrant County Appraisal District’s decision to move to appraising property every other year and the bill Rep. Chris Turner (D-Grand Prairie) to force TCAD to appraise every year.
WFAA: Texas school districts rush to pass nearly 100 bond proposals as funding remains murky in state legislature. There are 89 bond proposals on the May ballot, totalling $12 billion. The funding needs are in mid-sized districts that are growing. Also, inflation.
Dallas Observer: Trans Sports and CRT: Ken Paxton Targets North Texas School Districts. Gotta keep throwing that red meat to the base while he runs for Senate!
KERA: Dallas ISD, AG’s office reach agreement in investigation into trans athletes policy. It’s a wrist slap and all that happened is the superintendent told the district to follow state law. See: red meat for the base.
The Barbed Wire: Paxton’s Anti-CRT Lawsuit Was Based on A Manipulated Video, Coppell ISD Says. I’ve talked about this elsewhere, but the subhead says it all: “District officials claim the suit was meant to fuel debates over private school vouchers and public school funding”. See: red meat for the base.
Dallas Morning News: Dallas ISD teachers, staff could see pay increases under proposed budget. This is the budget for the next school year, of course, which is up in the air because of vouchers.
Fort Worth Report: Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD adopts new reading curriculum for $3M. It’s Amplify Texas, not Bluebonnet Learning, the controversial religious curriculum.
Star-Telegram: Fort Worth ISD election: Incumbent accuses opponent of illegal campaign activity. This is in their District 1 election; the incumbent says the challenger of illegally gathering mail-in ballots.
Star-Telegram: A new Fort Worth political action committee looks to marshal support for literacy. “Fort Worth Students First” is a PAC started by Fort Worth officials including Mayor Mattie Parker and Commissioner Manny Ramirez (both Republicans) to get elected officials on board with increasing literacy. We’ll have to see how this pans out and whether it leads to actual expenditures, like more money for the library.
Fort Worth Report: Fort Worth ISD considers closure of S.S. Dillow Elementary due to structural issues. The building has underground leaks and they’re worried about the walls moving and tiles popping off. It was already under consideration for closure under the district’s consolidation plan, but the damage to the building means it may close after this year.
Fort Worth Report: Fort Worth ISD trustees OK $22.5M in spending. Here’s what they approved in March.
Fort Worth Report: Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD sees mixed results from midyear test results.
Star-Telegram: Keller ISD will close early learning centers, consolidate classrooms to cut costs. One of the two early learning centers they’re closing is in a free-standing building that was rezoned by Fort Worth City Council recently.
Star-Telegram: Keller board says lawsuit alleging open meetings violation has no merit, calls to dismiss. They’re making technical arguments here that are above my pay grade. The gist of it is that the split didn’t happen so there’s no problem, which seems a little disingenuous to me.
Fort Worth Report: Northwest ISD budget remains $965K short following $15M in cuts to staff, programs. Voters rejected a tax increase in November, so they’re stuck figuring out how to do more with less, and it’s really going to be less with less.
Fort Worth Report: Tuition at many Fort Worth private schools is higher than proposed voucher amount. The current voucher proposal is about 2/3 of average private school tuition.

School District Saturday – 2025 04 04

This week we have some news from the Legislature about bad bills. You know what to do.

Texas Tribune & ProPublica: Texas conservatives are using school board elections to exert influence over what students learn. The headline of this article is deceptive: this article is really about at-large voting in school districts. It’s comparing Keller ISD, which we all know about, and which has only at-large trustees, and Richardson ISD, where my house is zoned, which has district trustees. And of course, Patriot Mobile is involved.
Dallas Observer: New Bill Would Remove DEI Programs From K-12 Schools. This is SB 12 filed by State Sen. Brandon Creighton, who is from Montgomery County (so not one of our local idiots; one of my home town’s exurban idiots). The bill would also ban queer student groups like Gay-Straight Alliance. Call your reps.
Dallas Morning News: Texas school libraries could have tighter oversight if Republicans get their way. This is SB 13 filed by State Sen. Angela Paxton (R-McKinney), who is one of our exurban idiots. And yes, in case you didn’t know, she is also Mrs. Ken Paxton. The DMN’s editors failed to notice that the bill number wasn’t included in the article, so I had to chase it down in this Texas Tribune article. I can excuse that in a blog but nobody pays bloggers! Wherever this is in the process, we need to find out and call our reps, because our local school districts need to decide what students can read, not the State Board of Education and certainly not the Lege.
KERA: Texas cleared to release 2023 school accountability ratings, appeals court rules. Also the Texas Tribune: Texas Education Agency can release schools’ 2023 performance ratings, appeals court rules, updated with the most recent developments. The school ratings are a complicated topic that I’m not competent to address, but what I do know is the state will use these ratings to take over urban districts like Houston. And based on HISD, I don’t think anybody the state puts in charge of a district is going to do right by the students.
DMN: What we know about the fatal Frisco track meet stabbing. This is tragic. A 17-year-old was stabbed to death at a UIL track meet in Frisco. The assailant, another 17-year-old, claims self-defense and is facing a murder charge. I have to wonder what impact this case is going to have on the demand for school security. On the one hand, how did a student get a knife into a track meet? On the other hand, how do you keep legitimate tools that can be used as weapons, like box cutters, out of the hands of students who might use them to hurt someone. Another one where I don’t have answers, just questions, and condolences for the victim.
Fort Worth Report: Arlington ISD owns 168 acres of undeveloped land worth over $15.7M. Here’s why. Tax foreclosures are a big part of it. I’m not surprised to find out this happens but the look at what they’re trying to do with the properties, most of which will be taken over by the city of Arlington, was news to me.
KERA: ‘Grossly misleading’: Coppell ISD officials deny teaching critical race theory in lawsuit. This is the Ken Paxton lawsuit based on Accuracy in Media’s edited video. AIM is not James O’Keefe-level lying but I don’t trust them. Also, CRT is a term with a technical meaning that is actually taught in graduate schools; it’s not appropriate for secondary schools. It does not actually mean Black history, despite what some people like to say on reactionary web sites.
DMN editorial: Dallas ISD leads again on retaining teachers. It’s the money. Pay-for-performance plan money, but it’s money.
Texas Tribune: Ken Paxton wants Dallas school officials under oath on transgender athlete policy. Also KERA: AG Paxton wants to depose Dallas ISD officials over transgender athletes policy. This is another investigation driven by Accuracy In Media. DISD says it’s following the law; AIM got someone to say they might be able to let a kid play if the kid’s birth certificate had been changed. Changes to birth certificates are illegal in Texas, but some other states will still change them. Our tax dollars at work.
Star-Telegram: Keller school board to consider campus closings, bond issue for 2025-26 school year. They have a $9.4 million shortfall for the next school year. I wonder how much of that is legal bills.
Related, also in the Star-Telegram: Fort Worth HOA demands removal of 5 Keller ISD board members over split. This is the lawsuit over the board violating the Texas Open Meetings Act. Also, remember up at the top of this post where we talked about the differences between the at-large school boards and the single-member district boards, with Keller as one example? This is an example of how at-large boards go very, very wrong.
DMN: Transgender teacher at North Texas district resigns after viral video spurs threats. This is in Red Oak ISD, south of Dallas and the viral piece comes from Libs of Tik Tok. I’m very sad for her. Also, her State Rep is Brian Harrison, whom the article quotes as demanding her job, and I’m sad for her about that too.

School District Sunday – 2025 03 30

Normally this is a Saturday event, but this week we’ve had to delay to Sunday evening.

Texas Monthly: “We Might Have a Mutiny on Our Hands”: Why One Texas District Won’t Abandon the Four-Day School Week. An interview with the superintendent of Athens ISD, which is about an hour and 15 minutes from Dallas in East Texas. They’ve been running a four-day school week for six years. Since a lot of rural districts are now looking at moving to four-day weeks for retention reasons, this is a preview of the rural future.
Texas Tribune: Texas schools have leaned on uncertified teachers to fill vacancies. Lawmakers want to put a stop to it. Almost 40% of new teachers in Texas are uncertified this year. The state will pay to help them get certified, but there will still be a shortage, and according to the article, teacher salaries in Texas are about $9,000 less than the national average. All this explains why rural districts are willing to go to four-day weeks to retain the good teachers they have and attract new ones.
Fort Worth Report: Fact brief: Can Texas school districts use voter-approved bonds for budget deficits?. Answer: NO.
Texas Observer: ‘We’re Not Just Some Bureaucrats’: DOE Employees on How Their Work Helps Texas Students. Former employees from the Dallas office of the Department of Education talk about what they did until their office was shut down by the current administration.
Dallas Observer: North Texas School Districts Among The Wealthiest in Texas. Our area took seven of the top ten spots, including Highland Park and Southlake-Carroll, which are tied for first place.
Moving into local districts, we have news from Coppell ISD (which is one of those top ten districts). From KERA: Texas AG sues Coppell ISD in response to undercover ‘critical race theory’ video. This is Accuracy in Media, and “edited” may be doing a lot of work there along with “critical race theory”, which often means any accurate history of how badly America has treated her Black citizens, during and after slavery. Also in the Texas Tribune: Texas AG Ken Paxton accuses Coppell ISD of violating Texas’ “critical race theory” ban.
We have two stories from the Fort Worth Report about Eagle-Saginaw ISD. First, Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD looks to lower student-to-teacher ratios despite $10M deficit. Even if they lower the ratios to 24:1, they’ll still be above the state requirement of 22:1 and need to get a waiver. Second: Why Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD’s new superintendent is hopeful about public education. A bit of a puff piece but note, as a piece of the larger pie, that the new superintendent calls out the Lege’s refusal to increase the per-pupil allocation for schools since 2019.
KERA: To cut costs, Euless charter school to lose middle, high school grades. They’re also going to a four-day school week next year to keep their teachers.
There’s a lot of news about Fort Worth ISD and its new superintendent, mostly but not all from the Fort Worth Report.
- Fort Worth Report: How much will Fort Worth ISD’s new superintendent earn? Here are the details from her contract? $360,000 annually for the next three years, without the bonus structure that the previous superintendent got.
- Fort Worth Report: Q&A: Superintendent Karen Molinar outlines Fort Worth ISD’s turnaround efforts. Also: Transcript: Newsmaker Q&A with Fort Worth ISD Superintendent Karen Molinar.
- Fort Worth Report: Educators vie to represent southwest Fort Worth ISD on school board. This is for the District 7 election.
- We have two stories on literacy efforts in FWISD. First, from the Star-Telegram: Fort Worth ISD wants to redirect $22.7 million toward reading, which will mean job cuts. And, related, from the Fort Worth Report: Fort Worth ISD looks to spur reading renaissance through literacy-infused budget. There are a lot of statistics and charts about FWISD’s performance in this one.
- Last, but not least, a follow-up to a story from last year in the Fort Worth Report: Fort Worth ISD apologizes to North Side cheerleaders following fall racist incident. Last year, during the previous superintendent’s tenure, North Side high cheerleaders were insulted with (anti-Latino) racial slurs by Arlington Heights students. The district can’t pin down exactly who said what so nobody’s getting punished and the cheerleaders are unsurprisingly unsatisfied.
We also have a lot of fallout from the Keller ISD situation even after the board made the decision not to split the district. Most of the news is from the Star-Telegram.
- Star-Telegram: ‘It’s not over’: Opponents of squashed Keller ISD split rejoice, but demand transparency.
- Star-Telegram: Keller ISD’s pursuit of a split district is over, but the school board’s legal woes aren’t.
- Star-Telegram: Keller school board may have violated open meetings act with decision to kill split. Unsurprising, since they’ve been violating it all along.
- Star-Telegram editorial: Effort to divide Keller schools was sneaky to the end. How do we prevent a repeat? | Opinion. The answer seems to be “throw the current board out”, which is probably a good idea. I’ve heard but haven’t seen proof that the board members behind the plan were Patriot Mobile candidates, so they need to go if that’s the case regardless of their position on the split.
- Star-Telegram: Keller trustees who were ‘blindsided’ by split plan surprised again when plan is called off. This is my lack of surprise face.
- Fort Worth Report: Council approves new zoning for planned Cultural District hotel, Keller ISD properties. This is about the properties in the Fort Worth city limits that it really looks like the district-splitters wanted to sell off to make a bunch of money.
- Two on the same move by the Heritage HOA, one of the groups opposed to the Keller split. First, from the Fort Worth Report: Heritage HOA demands removal of Keller ISD trustees over alleged open meetings violations. Also in the Star-Telegram: Keller school board member calls latest legal move a ‘publicity stunt,’ waste of money. I hope all the board members involved end up out on their ears in May and that part of the lawsuit is rendered moot.
Fort Worth Report: Mansfield ISD trustees approve library books every month. Now, the policy might go statewide. This is about SB 13. You’d have to have a small district and the number of library books you add each month would have to be small for the policy of taking individual book choices to the trustee level to make sense.
Fort Worth Report: Northwest ISD is spending $3 billion on new schools, stadiums. Here’s where projects stand. Mansfield currently has 33,000 students and is expecting another 18,000 by 2033, so they need more facilities.
Dallas Morning News: Plano arts center: $67.5M building offers new amenities in Dallas suburb. I attended a couple of events in a Plano ISD auditorium when my niblings were in high school there, so I’m glad to see them building something nice(r) for the kids. I’m interested in this venue for non-school shows, too; I’ve been to shows at the Eisemann, which is one of their comparison halls, and I’m happy to see some competition for shows. I hope it means we’ll get more acts in suburban venues.