Minda Caesar News Today

Board members with Spring Branch Independent School District have voted to close two elementary schools and cancel a partnership with a Houston-area charter school.

More than 2,100 students will be impacted by the shuttering of two campuses and charter school programs at three other schools in the West Houston district, which is cutting costs in anticipation of a $35 million budget shortfall for the 2024-25 school year. Spring Branch ISD leaders say Texas officials are to blame for not providing more funding for public schools.

The West Houston school district, which has paid more than $200 million during the last three years as part of a statewide wealth redistribution program for Texas public schools, is taking a stand against it. But the state will ultimately be able to receive the required payment for the 2023-24 school year, according to a local education expert.

Elected board members for the Houston-area school district suspended the first two layers of the book review process, which involve input from teachers, librarians and school administrators.