Hill Country News

Texas A&M students gathered Tuesday to demand more mandatory COVID-19 precautions on the College Station campus. School leaders have said they’re limited in what they can require.

After Texas A&M student died from COVID-19, students and faculty rally for more safety precautions

The death of a 20-year-old Texas A&M University student from COVID-19 last week spurred fear, frustration and sadness on the College Station campus. In the days since the biomedical science major … more

By Kailyn Rhone and Kate McGee, The Texas Tribune | 9/17/21

RRISD names J.R. Hughes principal of Cedar Valley Middle School

J.R. Hughes has been named the new principal of Cedar Valley Middle School. Hughes has served as the assistant principal of Paetow High School in Katy ISD since 2020. During that time, he … more

Staff Reports | 9/16/21

RRISD names Heath Walz principal of Ridgeview Middle School

Heath Walz has been named the principal of Ridgeview Middle School. Walz has served as the associate principal of Cedar Ridge High School since 2018. During that time, he helped plan and assess … more

Staff Reports | 9/16/21

The Leander ISD Board of Trustees resolved to direct Administration to investigate additional COVID-19 mitigation resources, such as air filtration systems and outdoor lunch options.

LISD discusses additional COVID mitigation tactics

After discussion about COVID-19 safety measures on Thursday, the Leander ISD Board of Trustees resolved to direct Administration to investigate additional COVID-19 mitigation resources.The board … more

Lilly Chandler | 9/16/21

Leander ISD debt rating upgraded to “AA” by Fitch Ratings

Leander ISD received a bond rating upgrade from another major bond rating agency, marking the second time in the past five years that the district’s bond rating has been upgraded. Citing the … more

Staff Reports | 9/15/21

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. (Nick Wagner/Austin American-Statesman/TNS)

Texas AG Paxton sues more school districts that have incorporated masks into their dress codes

The Texas attorney general’s office filed even more lawsuits Tuesday against districts that require students to wear masks to school. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced … more

Talia Richman, The Dallas Morning News (TNS) | 9/15/21

Students backpacks sit in their cubbies at a Texas elementary school last month. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing several school districts that he says are defying Gov. Greg Abbott's ban on mask mandates.

A Texas school district doesn’t require masks. The state is suing the district anyway.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has unleashed another wave of lawsuits against school districts over their masking policies — but one of them says it doesn’t even require face … more

By Joshua Fechter, The Texas Tribune | 9/14/21

First day of school at Los Angeles Unified School District in Daniel Webster Middle School on Aug. 16, 2021, in Los Angeles. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

Lawmakers rethink mask policies as more kids quarantine

Misty Russell, a mother of three, had just moved to Greenville, South Carolina, and was ecstatic for her 8-year-old daughter to attend school in-person in a new state and school district. But, after … more

Aallyah Wright, Stateline.org (TNS) | 9/13/21

A student’s school supplies on the first day of in-person classes in Texas in 2020. :

Texas sues six school districts that issued mask mandates in defiance of Gov. Greg Abbott’s order

For the first time in the Texas mask wars, Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing six school districts that have defied Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on local masking orders. Paxton on Friday sued … more

By Joshua Fechter and Brian Lopez, The Texas Tribune | 9/10/21

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf pictured July 2, 2021. (Tom Wolf/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS)

Gov. Tom Wolf and teachers say kids are cool with masks: ‘It feels like an adult problem’

Wearing masks all day isn’t a big deal for Brooke Vaught’s 375 students. They compliment each other on their cool choices — bright colors, Batman, funky designs — they put them … more

Kristen A. Graham, The Philadelphia Inquirer (TNS) | 9/9/21

Tomas Garcia sits in his home with his dog, Patches, in Houston on Wednesday.

The pandemic’s toll on educators has made Texas’ teacher shortage worse

Toward the end of the last school year, Tomas Garcia made the difficult but, in his mind, right decision to leave teaching after 15 years. Like countless other educators, Garcia has loved the … more

By Brian Lopez, The Texas Tribune | 9/9/21

The Texas NAACP and students have filed a complaint against UT-Austin over the continued use of the song "The Eyes of Texas."

Texas NAACP, students file federal civil rights complaint over UT-Austin’s ‘Eyes of Texas’

The Texas chapter of the NAACP, along with the civil rights organization’s University of Texas at Austin chapter and a group of anonymous students, has filed a complaint with the U.S. … more

By Kate McGee, The Texas Tribune | 9/7/21

Just weeks into the school year, dozens of Texas school districts have had to close due to COVID-19 cases.

At least 45 districts shut down in-person classes due to COVID-19 cases, affecting more than 40,000 students

At least 45 small school districts across Texas have been forced to temporarily stop offering in-person classes as a result of COVID-19 cases in the first few weeks of the new school year, according … more

By Allyson Waller, Kalley Huang and Mandi Cai, The Texas Tribune | 9/3/21

Students work at their desks during a geometry class at Chapa Middle School in Kyle on Aug. 24, 2021.

GOP bill targeting how race, slavery and history are taught in Texas schools heads to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk

As the Texas Legislature's special session wound down Thursday, lawmakers sent Gov. Greg Abbott a reworked version of the GOP’s so-called “critical race theory” bill, which aims to … more

By Brian Lopez, The Texas Tribune | 9/2/21

The Texas Senate gave final approval to Senate Bill 15, which would expand and fund virtual learning.

Texas lawmakers send Gov. Greg Abbott a bill that funds virtual learning, but could leave out many students of color

Less than a week before the special session ends, Texas lawmakers sent a bill to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk that would expand and fund virtual learning, but would exclude students who failed their … more

By Brian Lopez, The Texas Tribune | 8/31/21

Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston, the chair of the House Public Education Committee, has refused to vote out two bills prioritized by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Dutton says the Senate is holding up a bill to fund legislative staff.

GOP's so-called critical race theory bill advances as bill to restrict transgender student athletes stalls in House committee

Setting up a potential showdown with Republicans in the final days of the second special legislative session, a House Democrat blocked a committee vote to advance a bill that restricts transgender … more

By James Barragán, The Texas Tribune | 8/31/21

The LISD Board of Trustees approved the 2021 property tax rate 4-3 shortly after midnight on Friday morning.

LISD adopts property tax rate

The Leander ISD Board of Trustees adopted a total 2021 property tax rate of $1.3370 on Friday. This includes $0.8720 for Maintenance and Operations (M&O) and $0.4650 for Interest and Sinking … more

Lilly Chandler | 8/31/21

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona. (Susan Walsh/Pool/CNP/Zuma Press/TNS)

US opens civil rights probes over mask rules in GOP-led states

WASHINGTON — The Education Department opened civil rights investigations in five Republican-led states asking whether bans on school mask mandates discriminate against students with … more

Andrew Kreighbaum and Courtney Rozen, Bloomberg News (TNS) | 8/30/21

Students’ backpacks hang on their chairs in an empty classroom at Blanco Vista Elementary School in San Marcos.

Retired Texas teachers closer to getting a “13th check” after House endorses legislation

After months of political wrangling, the Texas House has advanced a bill that could give retired teachers, counselors and other school staff a one-time payment of up to $2,400. Senate Bill 7, … more

By Kevin Reynolds, The Texas Tribune | 8/28/21

Proponents of Senate Bill 15 have largely touted it as a measure with enough guardrails to make sure students succeed while learning remotely and to help those who might fall through the cracks.

Texas House moves to fund limited virtual learning as delta variant thwarts return to normalcy in schools

After months in limbo, Texas lawmakers took a step toward expanding and funding virtual learning as the pandemic still proves a threat to families not yet comfortable sending their children back to … more

By Brian Lopez, The Texas Tribune | 8/27/21

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