Best of the Bayou
If you read one thing: Klein ISD has had a rough year. Parents say their confidence in the district and its leadership is at an all-time low after a series of reputation hits involving teacher arrests and missing special needs students. And now, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is blasting the 54,000-student northwest Harris County district.
What did Abbott say about Klein ISD?
"What some of our educators are doing is criminal and disgusting. No child should be compelled by the state to be in a school like this. And yet, current law doesn't allow the choice to go elsewhere. I'm working to elect state representatives who will change that," Abbott wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
What has happened at Klein ISD?
The district has faced a series of miscues this school year. A Klein Cain High School cosmetology teacher was arrested on allegations of child trafficking and compelling prostitution of three teens reported as runaways. Two other teachers were arrested for allegedly possessing child pornography. Another teacher was arrested for alleged indecency with a child. And a nonverbal autistic child went missing for hours from an overcrowded campus.
Parents say their confidence in the district has plummeted as it grapples with fast growth. The district has added almost 20,000 students in the last two decades and now enrolls a majority of students considered economically disadvantaged, compared to just 10% in 2003.
"(Teachers are) in crowd control mode. They're not in teach mode, and I felt like they were losing the crowd control game," said Monica Myers, a Klein ISD parent.
Read Elizabeth Sander's full story here.
Stay in the Loop
Photo by: Susan Barber
📰 Need to Know
- Houston airports are partnering with Aunt Flow to offer free menstrual products. The Houston Airport System, in partnership with Aunt Flow, will offer free menstrual products through smart technology dispensers.
- Exclusive: A $25 million lead gift will fund the A&M graduate business building. Texas A&M announced that the $25 million from the Mays Family Foundation will serve as the lead gift toward constructing a third building within what is now the Mays Business Education Complex.
- Nearly 86,000 pounds of ham was recalled in 8 states including Texas. ConSup North America Inc. issued a recall for more than 85,000 pounds of sliced ham produced in Germany due to being shipped "without the benefit of equivalent inspection."
- HISD backtracked on $2K retention incentives for certain teachers. Houston ISD announced Thursday that it would no longer be offering retention incentives of up to $2,000 for teachers who worked in schools outside the New Education System next year.
- Why were Texas state police called to a pro-Palestinian protest at UT Austin? University leaders defended the police response, which sparked a rebuke from UT faculty and outrage from those who said it was an overreaction to a peaceful protest.
- Gov. Greg Abbott pushed for crackdown on Gaza protesters months ago. Free speech advocates have blasted Abbott for sending state troopers to arrest demonstrators, but his GOP base has welcomed the show of force.
💼 Business
🚗 Outside the Loop
- Inside The Woodlands' potential new 208-acre sports park. Land for South Gosling Park is on a floodway or 100- to 500-year floodplain. Still, the township's parks department could transform the 208-acre tract into The Woodlands' largest sports park.
- $5M Woodlands road widening project could be canceled due to opposition and lack of funds. Local officials have asked the Houston-Galveston Area Council to scrap a proposed plan to widen a 2.8-mile stretch of Research Forest Drive from four to six lanes in The Woodlands.
- Magnolia train depot reopened after a 4-year pandemic closure. After sitting stagnant the past four years during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Magnolia Historic Depot complex is open for visitors again.
- Woodlands Fire Department projects include five new trucks and a new $11.4M fire station. Fire trucks can now take three to five years to build due to supply chain issues. That's why The Woodlands is ordering five new fire trucks totaling more than $8 million to keep its engines up to date.
- Rising costs delay Conroe's plans for a new $7.2M fire station. Conroe City Council deferred discussion on building a new $7.2 million fire station to reduce costs that have climbed almost $2 million since 2022.
Point of View
Photo by: Yasmeen Khalifa
But what happens when the odds of snagging a $95 million Lotto Texas jackpot are tipped in favor of a statistics-savvy group with money to burn, asks Chronicle Editorial Board member Regina Lankenau.
Houston vs. All Y'all
Photo by: Brett Coomer, Staff Photographer
After a long stretch of third-round draft miscues, the Texans have hit on their recent picks in that round.
- The Texans' Stefon Diggs says it was 'easy to fall in love' with C.J. Stroud. Texans wide receiver Stefon Diggs and quarterback C.J. Stroud first met at the 2024 Pro Bowl.
- Astros insider: A 7-19 start is a 'slap in the face' and a 'gut check'. The last MLB team to lose 19 of its first 26 games and reach the postseason was the 1914 Boston Braves. The Astros will need a massive turnaround to join them.
- The Astros' Framber Valdez will return Sunday and start vs. the Rockies in Mexico City. The starter was placed on the injured list with inflammation in his pitching elbow on April 9.
- Simone Biles' personal coach, Cecile Landi, is leaving her Houston gym. Cecile Landi will become coach at the University of Georgia but will stay with Simone Biles through the 2024 Olympics this summer in Paris.
Get Out
Photo by: Kathy Adams Clark, Kathy Adams Clark/KAC Productions
The 27th annual Migration Celebration at the San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge on April 27 and 28 includes exciting events for nature lovers, regardless of age or birding experience.
- Texas MS 150 cyclists share jersey designs and reasons why they ride. This year, the 2024 Bike MS: Texas MS 150 celebrates 40 years and $310 million toward the National Multiple Sclerosis Society's mission to cure MS.
- Houston wind ensemble WindSync is celebrating its 15th anniversary with a Rice concert. The award-winning group will cap a busy week with a performance at the Shepherd School of Music featuring current players and four former members.
- Review: Zendaya scores a grand slam in tennis drama 'Challengers'. "Call Me By Your Name" director Luca Guadagnino got great performances from the actress as well those who play her suitors, Mike Faist and Josh O'Connor.
This is a good read: For the past 13 years, Lindsay and Nick Purcell have been going the distance for the annual Texas MS 150, a two-day, 150-mile charity bike tour that's celebrating its 40th anniversary this weekend.
The MS 150's mission — raising awareness of multiple sclerosis and funds for research — hits close to home for the Purcells. Lindsay's first ride was in 2011, the year after her MS diagnosis.
— Yasmeen Khalifa
Puzzle of the Day: Typeshift
Slide the columns of letters up and down to form words in the highlighted row. Score points for each solid letter.
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