Schools: Southlake Carroll ISD – Dispatches from Dallas

School district Saturday – 2025 07 05

This week in news from our schools:

Dallas Morning News: Texas’ attempts to improve students’ math skills aren’t adding up post-COVID. According to the STAAR test results, the percentage of kids reading at grade level has returned to pre-COVID levels, but math skills, even for kids who weren’t in school yet in 2020-2022, haven’t. Click through to see the numbers, which aren’t great even with the bounce-back.
There’s a bunch of news about lawsuits against the new and plainly unconstitutional state law (SB 10) requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in all K-12 classrooms. Note that the wording required, as described by the Star-Telegram, is the King James version, so a sectarian version of the Commandments.
- KERA: North Texas activist group sues to block Ten Commandments in classrooms law. This suit was filed in Dallas and spearheaded by the Next Generation Action Network Legal Advocacy Fund. Also in the Star-Telegram: North Texas reverends file suit to stop Ten Commandments displays in classrooms.
- Texas Tribune: More parents sue to stop Texas’ Ten Commandments requirement in public schools. This is the ACLU lawsuit, which was filed on behalf of 16 parents of different faiths.
- D Magazine: The Faith Leaders Filing Lawsuits to Stop Texas’ Ten Commandments Requirement in Public Schools. This one covers both of the lawsuits.
The Fort Worth Report has two stories about Arlington ISD that should be paired: Arlington ISD teachers, staff will receive a raise. Here’s how much; and Arlington ISD’s expected $13M budget deficit likely won’t stick, trustees say. Here’s why. It’s because nobody knows what school funding is going to look like for 2025-2026 after the changes in the last legislative session. Reading the article, I think the Arlington board is too optimistic, but I’m not one of their voters.
Star-Telegram: Carroll ISD is considering a tax ratification election over projected $5M deficit. They need to do some financial shenanigans because the Lege only increased the per-student allotment by $55 and because of Robin Hood financing, Southlake Carroll sends about a third of its tax revenue to Austin for distribution.
KERA: Parents sue Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD over school closures. It’s about Open Meetings Act violations. A lot of districts struggle with the Open Meetings Act.
DMN: Parents, teachers ask Dallas ISD to bar ICE from any school property. ICE agents were photographed in the parking lot of a couple of schools near Love Field, which set off alarms for parents. Given that the new Chief over at DPD seems to be cooperating with ICE and the Mayor is in the President’s back pocket, I doubt Dallas ISD is going to be able to stand up to ICE. I still hope they try.
As usual, we have a number of stories about Fort Worth ISD. I wish the DMN covered Dallas ISD as thoroughly as the Star-Telegram and the Fort Worth Report do with FWISD.
- Star-Telegram: FWISD approves non-religious phonics program from Bluebonnet. Why was it chosen? Also in the Fort Worth Report: Fort Worth ISD adopts Bluebonnet phonics program as Molinar urges literacy urgency. The program is bilingual and doesn’t include the components that use religious stories.
- Star-Telegram: Fort Worth ISD shares test results, approves programs for dyslexia and phonics. This article covers the STAAR results, with graphics, and the ongoing threat of a state takeover of FWISD
- Two from the Star-Telegram on school closures: More kids live in this Fort Worth ZIP code. So why are public schools shrinking? and Fort Worth ISD is closing Kirkpatrick schools. They’re named for Black educator. There really is a demographic decline and at the same time, it’s not surprising that the neighborhoods that are losing schools are Black and Spanish-speaking.
- Fort Worth Report: State board approves new Fort Worth charter school despite concerns over recent closures. This is Fort Worth STEAM Academy, a middle school that will be opening in the 2026-2027 school year.
Star-Telegram editorial: You’re paying the legal bill in Keller ISD split, but you can’t see it. The legal bills for the Keller ISD board and their plan to split the district are billed in six-minute increments, adding up to $172K, but even the current board and superintendent can’t see what they’re paying for. The bills are redacted. Related, in the Fort Worth Report: Parent sues Keller ISD over alleged voter disenfranchisement. Where the case stands. This is one of the Brewer Storefront cases where they’re suing to get rid of the all at-large school boards. It’s still in its early stages.
Fort Worth Report: Documenters: Lake Worth ISD to raise teacher pay after Legislature passes bill. The Fort Worth Report sends people to document board meetings and posts the resulting notes. This is one from Lake Worth ISD. The Dallas Free Press also does this with some governmental meetings in Dallas, though usually not for Dallas ISD. More like this, please.

School District Sunday – 2025 05 25

This week we start with news from the Legislature and then move into the area districts, with a lot from Fort Worth ISD.

Texas Tribune: Texas School Districts Slam the Senate’s School Finance Plan. The Senate version of the funding bill raises the per-student allotment by only $95.
Dallas Observer: Opinion: Texas Public Schools Aren’t Sunday Schools. Mickey Dollens and Ryan Dudley write about all the legal and constitutional problems with putting the Ten Commandments in every room in the public schools.
Dallas Morning News: Will Texas pass paid teacher training to fix ‘pipeline crisis’? In the school year that just ended, 12% of teachers in Texas public schools were uncertified. The question is about residency training, basically apprenticeship under a veteran teacher for a full year, and whether the state will pay for it ($20,000 per resident, plus $2000 bonus for the mentor). This being Texas, I expect Betteridge’s law to apply.
DMN: Texas schools should get more flexibility on student discipline, Senate decides. Background in this article from the Texas Tribune: Classroom violence went up in Texas after the pandemic. Is more discipline the answer?
Texas Tribune: Texas lawmakers push to enforce election transparency law after newsrooms found school districts failed to comply. This is about campaign finance reports. A lot of districts didn’t post or didn’t have the information because the didn’t know they were supposed to put them online. In a time when school board elections are drawing a lot of money from groups like Patriot Mobile, knowing who financed which candidates is valuable.
Dallas Observer: Texas Students Use Their Voice to Combat Student Paper Censorship. Unsurprisingly, just like at the university level, high school journalists are upsetting their administrations and they have friends in the Lege.
Star-Telegram: Florida expanded school vouchers two years ago. What can it tell us about Texas? School districts are feeling financial pressure and private schools are booming, unsurprisingly. But public school performance also improved.
Texas Observer: Texas Already Gives Public Ed Dollars to Private Operators. Here’s How That Worked Out. There are a lot of red flags even in the clearly well-intentioned partnerships described in this article. And it’s pretty clear that not all of the partnerships were well-intentioned instead of designed to make money. I’m pleased to note that my state Senator proposed an alternative to turning over public schools to private operators.
DMN: Pay raises for Dallas ISD teachers, staff approved in next year’s budget. The budget next year is expected to be $1.9 billion.
Star-Telegram: TEA takeover led to academic gains but also turmoil in Houston. Is Fort Worth next? Pretty interesting, especially if you’ve been following the HISD takeover saga as so many of my Houston friends have been. If you only click through to read one of these links, let it be this one.
Fort Worth Report: Here’s why Fort Worth ISD is bracing for an uncertain funding year in its next budget. They have a $17.6 carryover from the 2024-25 year, property value issues (you may remember that Tarrant County Appraisal District only wants to revise values every other year), and declining enrollment.
Three on Fort Worth ISD’s decision to close 18 schools over the next few years. First from the Star-Telegram: Fort Worth ISD board approves plan to close 18 schools over four years; second from the Fort Worth Report: Fort Worth ISD students plead to save schools before board approves closures; and the Star-Telegram again: Why is Fort Worth ISD closing 18 schools over the next four years? What to know.
Two on Mansfield ISD’s decision to extend the contract of their superintendent: one from the Star-Telegram: Mansfield ISD school board extends superintendent’s contract, and one from the Fort Worth Report: Departing Mansfield ISD trustees approve superintendent evaluation 7 days before exit. Three of the board’s seven members were on the way out; they say that it’s only fair for the superintendent to be judged by the board members who have been working with her. They extended her contract an additional year, to 2030, and increased her annual longevity bonus from $20,000 to $35,000.
Dallas Observer: As Plano Schools Close, Parents and Faculty Look Back, Wonder About the Future. They’re only closing four schools: three elementary schools and one middle school.
Star-Telegram: Carroll ISD parents keep pressure on trustees over Principal Ryan Wilson’s contract. Parents and students are unhappy about the board firing and reassigning their favorite educators, as mentioned in previous editions of this roundup.

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.