Grand Prairie Independent School District canceled a production of "Little Shop of Horrors" at South Grand Prairie High School after a female student was cast in the male lead role of Seymour. The district cited compliance with Texas Senate Bill 12 and concerns about themes in the musical involving an abusive relationship.
Ana Mota, South Grand Prairie High School senior cast as Seymour; Grand Prairie Independent School District, School district that canceled the production; Nancy Jimenez, Ana Mota's mother
Texas public universities and colleges are waiving undergraduate application fees for state residents applying through ApplyTexas during Free College Application Week. Applications must be fully submitted by 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 18 to qualify.
The SEC released preseason media polls predicting Texas women's basketball to finish second and Texas men's basketball to finish second in the conference for the 2026-27 season. Madison Booker was named to the women's preseason All-SEC First Team, and Matas Vokietaitis and David Punch were selected to the men's preseason All-SEC teams.
University of Texas women's basketball, Team predicted second in SEC preseason media poll; University of Texas men's basketball, Team predicted second in SEC preseason media poll; Madison Booker, Texas women's basketball senior forward named to Preseason All-SEC First Team and 3 more
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an opinion in September 2026 stating that school district police departments cannot serve as the appropriate law enforcement agency to receive or investigate suspected child abuse or neglect reports. The ruling follows Senate Bill 571, which took effect in 2025 and defines appropriate law enforcement agencies as the Department of Public Safety, municipal police departments, county sheriff's offices, and county constable's offices.
Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General; Paul Bettencourt, State Senator, authored Senate Bill 571; Larry Baimbridge, Spring Branch ISD Police Chief and 4 more
Texas school districts are requesting rescores of STAAR tests, with rescore requests tripling from the prior year. Many requests involve automated scoring of written answers, and districts must pay $50 per test if the score does not change.
$$50 for rescore fee per test if score does not change
Texas Education Agency, State agency administering STAAR tests and automated scoring system; North East Independent School District, School district that did not submit rescoring requests; Northside ISD, School district that submitted 60 tests for rescoring and 2 more
Texas is holding Free College Application Week Oct. 12-18, 2026, allowing residents to apply to undergraduate programs at public colleges and universities without paying application fees. Applications must be submitted through ApplyTexas by 11:59 p.m. Oct. 18.
$$15,000 to $35,000 for potential savings from three-year bachelor's degree
Governor Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas; Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, State agency administering the program; Wynn Rosser, Higher Education Commissioner and 1 more
The Senate Education Committee held a hearing Wednesday to examine implementation of Senate Bill 13, a 2025 law restricting library materials and expanding parental oversight. Witnesses testified that some school districts are not fully complying with the law by retaining explicit materials.
Brent Hagenbuch, State Senator, R-Denton; Donna Campbell, Senate Education Committee chair; Shannon Trejo, Deputy commissioner, Texas Education Agency Office of School Programs and 7 more
Frontline Education, a software company used by Texas school districts, experienced a data security incident on Aug. 14, 2026, exposing employee Social Security numbers, email addresses, and physical addresses. The company discovered and remediated the incident on Aug. 15, 2026, but districts were not notified until early October 2026.
$two years for credit monitoring
Frontline Education, software company that experienced data security incident; Lubbock ISD, school district affected by incident; Longview ISD, school district affected by incident and 2 more
The Texas Senate Committee on Education heard testimony about Texas students' reading scores trailing Mississippi students in 4th and 8th grades. The committee considered whether Texas should mandate a five-day school week after more than 100 districts switched to four-day weeks.
José Menéndez, State Senator, Democrat from San Antonio; Mike Morath, Commissioner of the Texas Education Agency; Dr. Emily Morton, Director of research consulting for Northwest Evaluation Association and 2 more
Texas school districts submitted 64,489 requests to rescore open-ended reading responses on STAAR exams this spring, nearly tripling from the prior year. The Texas Education Agency has used an automated scoring engine since December 2023 to grade open-ended questions, with humans manually reviewing a quarter of exam scores.
$$15 million to $20 million for additional annual cost to score essays by hand
Texas Education Agency, State agency that implemented automated scoring and conducts manual reviews; Allison Matney, Director of Texas Center for School Accountability; Jake Kobersky, Texas Education Agency spokesperson
The Texas Senate Committee on Education held a hearing to review four-day and hybrid school schedules used by more than 200 Texas districts and examine how shortened school weeks affect student learning, families, and academic achievement. Testimony indicated four-day schedules were associated with lower reading and math proficiency.
Mike Morath, Education Commissioner; Emily Morton, Director of research consulting at NWEA; Elmer Avellaneda, Superintendent of Natalia Independent School District and 2 more
The Texas Education Agency released first-year data on the Bluebonnet Curriculum for the 2025-26 school year. The program showed students meeting grade-level expectations in reading and math at higher rates than non-users, with 72 districts receiving an "A" rating, 26 of which had lower ratings the prior year.
$$1,300 less per classroom for cost comparison for Grade 2 math over four years
Texas Education Agency, Released curriculum data and findings; Melissa Semmler, Conroe ISD board member
PEN America released a report documenting nearly 12,000 book bans in U.S. public schools over the past year. Texas accounted for more than 8,100 bans, roughly three-fourths of the nationwide total.
PEN America, organization that released the report; Stephen King, author whose works were most frequently banned
Texas Comptroller Don Huffines announced Monday that Austin, Barbers Hill, El Paso, and Prosper school districts will undergo detailed financial reviews. The reviews, requested by Gov. Greg Abbott in August, will examine whether district spending complies with state law and whether public funds are directed toward students, classrooms, and teachers rather than administrative or non-instructional expenses.
$$104.9 billion for State budget for K-12 education
Don Huffines, Texas Comptroller; Gov. Greg Abbott, Texas Governor; Sarah Eckhardt, State Senator, D-Austin; candidate for comptroller
Governor Greg Abbott announced that five Texas community colleges earned U.S. Department of Education approval to offer Workforce Pell student aid for short-term job training programs. A consortium of Texas community colleges led by the Alamo Colleges District received a $10.4 million U.S. Department of Labor grant to strengthen industry-focused programs.
$$10.4 million for grant for workforce programs
Governor Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas; U.S. Department of Education, Federal agency approving Workforce Pell programs; U.S. Department of Labor, Federal agency providing grant and 3 more