Latest news with #FortWorthISD
CBS News
5 days ago
- CBS News
Fort Worth grandmother shot nine times during church event prep now defying the odds
Family asks for help after Fort Worth grandmother survives shooting: "We're Still in Fear" Family asks for help after Fort Worth grandmother survives shooting: "We're Still in Fear" Family asks for help after Fort Worth grandmother survives shooting: "We're Still in Fear" A 71-year-old woman is recovering in a Tarrant County hospital after being shot nine times in her home, according to her family. Her name and photo are being withheld for security reasons. "We don't know who did this or why," said the Rev. Roderick Smith. "So, of course, we want to make sure that once she's safe -- one, that they don't come and do something else to her." Smith said the victim is his mother's older sister. The call about his aunt on May 16 came as a shock. Planning a memorial, then gunfire CBS News Texas Smith said his aunt, a former Fort Worth ISD employee and church leader, had just gotten off the phone with his mother. She had been planning a balloon release for a former co-worker who had recently died. "She said she literally had the phone in her hand and was putting it down," Smith said. "And she literally felt the first bullet and started hearing all the shots — about 20 to 30 rounds entered our home." Fort Worth police responded to the home in the 6400 block of Shasta Trail shortly after 2 a.m. on May 16. Investigators said a gunman walked between two houses and opened fire. No one else was injured. Surviving the attack "I've seen it where a young person gets shot with one AR or one assault rifle bullet and passes away. She was shot nine times," Smith said. "She's still with us." He said his aunt described a bullet entering her knee and watching it swell instantly. "She said, 'All I could do was call on Jesus. I just started calling on Jesus and screaming for help,'" Smith said. "She was able to pick up the phone, call her neighbor and say, 'Hey, I've been shot.'" The victim's grandson, who recently came to stay with her, declined to speak with CBS Texas. Smith said investigators have not indicated any connection between the shooting and his cousin's stay. Investigation ongoing Fort Worth police have assigned the gang unit to the case. Smith said there is surveillance video of the shooting, and the family hopes it will lead to an arrest. "Shot nine times on her right side. I know they had to go in and rebuild — restructure her whole knee, foot, arms, and stuff like that," Smith said. Her leg is improving. She can now bend it and wiggle her toes — a feat doctors weren't sure would be possible. A testimony of survival Smith said his aunt, a prophetess in her church, now has a new testimony to share. "God is just showing people that he's still in the miracle-working business," he said.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
3-year-old boy drowns in backyard swimming pool at Arlington home
A 3-year-old boy who drowned in a swimming pool at his Arlington family's home has been identified by the medical examiner. Alexander Velasquez died Sunday evening at Medical City Arlington hospital, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office. Arlington police called the drowning a tragic accident and said no charges are expected to be filed. Officers were called about 4:45 p.m. on Friday to the toddler's home on Overbrook Drive, where they were met by an adult who carried the child to the front yard. The police investigation found that the boy apparently got outside and his family looked for him as soon as they realized he wasn't inside the house. The family pulled the child out of the backyard pool, and officers performed CPR until paramedics arrived. A family member has organized a GoFundMe account to raise money for funeral arrangements, writing that Alex 'was the most precious child and his absence has been hard to accept.' 🚨 More top stories from our newsroom: → Fort Worth ISD board approves plan to close 18 schools → TCU student murder case moves toward trial → Mansfield ISD board approves superintendent's contract [Get our breaking news alerts.]
CBS News
22-05-2025
- CBS News
1 adult hospitalized, 1 in police custody after stabbing incident at Fort Worth elementary school
An adult is in the hospital and another is in police custody after a stabbing at South Hills Elementary School in Fort Worth. Fort Worth police and firefighters responded to the stabbing call at the school late Thursday morning. The Fort Worth ISD campus is on the southwest side of the city on the corner of Bilglade Road and Cockrell Avenue. According to city records, police and paramedics were dispatched shortly after 11:30 a.m. Thursday. In an email to parents, the school's principal, Melissa Russell, said the altercation happened between two adults during an outdoor awards ceremony reception. One of the adults was taken to a local hospital in unknown condition, according to the Fort Worth Police Department. The suspect is in custody. Russell continued to say that students were immediately brought inside out of an abundance of caution and the campus was placed on hold. All students and staff were reported safe. Parents were encouraged to check their students out early. Students at the school range in age from pre-K through 5th grade. Thursday is Fort Worth ISD's last day of school. This story is developing. Check back for updates.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Fort Worth ISD reveals new lesson structures to help improve academic performance
As students in the Fort Worth Independent School District wrap up their last week of school, Superintendent Karen Molinar revealed details about how classroom lessons will be structured upon their return to school in the fall. Molinar gave a presentation to the school board on Tuesday, May 20, of Fort Worth ISD's new instructional framework that will go into effect in the 2025-26 school year for literacy and math. The framework is one of the components of the district's effort to turn around its stagnant academic performance. The goal is to promote consistency in the classroom and reduce planning time for teachers while keeping their autonomy intact. Beyond literacy and math, the framework will apply to all subjects for kindergarten through eighth grade, Molinar said. A framework for high school lessons is in the works. Molinar explained in-depth the three parts of the instructional framework: first teach; demonstration of learning; and reteach and challenge. First teach, the initial layer of instruction known as tier one instruction, includes addressing gaps students have in prerequisite skills, adjusting what students are learning or how they're learning it, and using techniques that allow students to participate and share their thinking during a lesson. 'Regardless of where they come in at, that first teach always has to be at grade level. If they're reading on a second-grade level, but they're in the third grade, they're always going to receive that third-grade instruction,' Molinar said. The second part, demonstration of learning, consists of no more than five questions that are aligned with the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, exam to gauge what students took away from the lesson. The final reteach and challenge block involves grouping students based on how they performed with their demonstration of learning to receive additional support if needed. Students who 'meet' or 'master' the material do enrichment activities to further their learning. District officials will provide teachers with lesson slide decks and questions for the demonstrations of learning to be used as guides during class time. The slide decks and lesson materials will be linked together in one place through an online portal. 'The lesson planning is done for the teachers. The delivery is the autonomy of the teacher,' Molinar said. 'Teachers are now going to be able to plan weeks in advance and really be able to adjust.' Molinar also presented a funding overview for various options of reading and math curriculum approved by the State Board of Education, which included the Bluebonnet Learning curriculum. Bluebonnet's literacy curriculum has sparked controversy for its Bible-infused reading materials. Molinar focused on the math portion of the Bluebonnet curriculum, including a presentation slide with bullet points explaining why it was 'a better choice for Fort Worth ISD.' Among the examples she mentioned were its instructional support for teachers, emergent bilingual students and students who previously have struggled with math. It also replicates the district's current curriculum, Eureka Math and Carnegie Learning, so teachers won't have to learn an entirely new curriculum. 🚨 More top stories from our newsroom: → Fort Worth ISD board approves plan to close 18 schools → TCU student murder case moves toward trial → Mansfield ISD board approves superintendent's contract [Get our breaking news alerts.] The school board approved the adoption and roughly $2 million purchase of the Bluebonnet Learning math curriculum later on in the meeting, in an 8-0 vote without discussion. School board member Wallace Bridges was absent. 'If there's a better resource for our students, and we're getting funding from the state, it's our obligation to put that in front of them and to make sure our teachers have the best curriculum and the best resources for our students,' Molinar said. Molinar also shared the district's update for dyslexia screening, which includes adding another screening for seventh-grade students. When students are taking their beginning-of-the-year MAP test, middle schools will do screening for seventh-graders identified by the district. By the end of the first six weeks of school, or Sept. 19, families will be given a data analysis of their child's screening with a literacy support plan. Students suspected of having dyslexia, or other disabilities under the umbrella of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, will be evaluated by district staff within 45 school days of staff receiving parental consent to do the evaluation.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Fort Worth ISD board approves plan to close 18 schools over four years
The Fort Worth Independent School District's board voted Tuesday to approve a plan to close 16 schools over the next four years. The closures the board approved Tuesday are in addition to two others the board had already approved. District officials say the cuts will allow them to redirect millions of dollars toward academic priorities. The board approved the plan by an 8-0 vote, with board member Wallace Bridges absent. The closures are a part of Fort Worth ISD's facilities master plan, which has been months in the making. The plan is intended to help the district manage revenue losses from declining enrollment. Fort Worth ISD has seen its enrollment drop by 15% since the 2019-20 school year, and officials project the district will lose another 6% of its enrollment by 2029-30. District leaders didn't discuss the plan at Tuesday's meeting. But at a work session last week, Deputy Superintendent Kellie Spencer said closing the campuses would save Fort Worth ISD about $10 million over the next five years. That's money that the district can redirect toward literacy priorities, she said. During the meeting, groups of parents and other supporters of Briscoe and De Zavala elementary schools held signs asking the board not to close their schools. Several spoke during public comment, explaining what made their campuses special and how students and their families would be affected if they closed. Stephany Velez, the mother of two students at De Zavala, said she enrolled her sons at the school in spite of Fort Worth ISD's overall lackluster performance because it was a consistently high-rated campus. She had planned to home school her kids, but she changed her mind when she heard about De Zavala's dual language program. As a Spanish speaker herself, Velez said she wanted to make sure her sons had the chance to learn in both languages. Velez acknowledged that De Zavala's enrollment is well short of the building's capacity. Last year, more than half the school's seats were empty. But she told the board she doesn't think the district has done enough to attract students to the school. The dual language program is one of De Zavala's biggest strengths, she said, but the school only has one dual language class per grade. That means it's forced to turn away many students who would like to enroll. Danyelle Liggins, a fourth-grade reading teacher at Briscoe, told the Star-Telegram that the elementary school is 'a campus like no other.' More than 95% of the school's students are classified as economically disadvantaged. Every year, teachers help families with Christmas gifts and Thanksgiving dinners, Liggins said. Otherwise, many families couldn't afford either. Liggins worries about what will happen to Briscoe's students when the school closes. The majority of Briscoe's students walk to school, Liggins said. Once it closes, they'll move to Carroll Peak Elementary School, a little over a mile and a half away. The district only provides transportation for students who live more than two miles away from school. That means most students will be too close to Carroll Peak to qualify for bus service, but too far to walk, she said. Most families at Briscoe don't have the means to drive their children to school themselves, Liggins said. She worries that those students won't be able to get to school at all. 'They're going to be left out,' she said. 'And that's what we're scared of for our kids.' But not every speaker at the meeting opposed the closures. A few encouraged the board to be willing to make tough decisions that will put the district on sounder financial footing. Graham Brizendin, a member of the district's steering committee that worked on the plan, said committee members didn't take the process lightly. The plan allows Fort Worth ISD to move toward the goal of giving all its students a chance at success, he said. Brezendin acknowledged that the process is difficult for families with a personal connection to the schools being closed. It's a list that includes Brezendin himself, he said — his grandmother attended De Zavala in the 1930s. 'I'm not excited to see it close, but I am also cognizant that the future students' success should not be bound by my emotional connection to bricks and mortar,' he said. The closures approved Tuesday include: Milton L. Kirkpatrick Elementary School (Closing in June 2026) Charles E. Nash Elementary School (Closing in June 2026) Riverside Applied Learning Center (Closing in June 2026) Edward J. Briscoe Elementary School (Closing in June 2026) De Zavala Elementary School (Closing in June 2027) A.M. Pate Elementary School (Closing in June 2027) J.T. Stevens Elementary School (Closing in June 2027) Atwood McDonald Elementary School (Closing in June 2027) McLean 6th Grade Center (Closing in June 2028) West Handley Elementary School (Closing in June 2028) Harlean Beal Elementary School (Closing in June 2028) H.V. Helbing Elementary School (Closing in June 2028) Sunrise-McMillan Elementary School (Closing in June 2028) Kirkpatrick Middle School (Closing in June 2029) Morningside Middle School (Closing in June 2029) Hubbard Heights Elementary School (Closing in June 2029) In addition to the closures outlined in the plan, Fort Worth ISD is also scheduled to close S.S. Dillow and Eastern Hills elementary schools next month. District officials said S.S. Dillow, an 88-year-old building in southeast Fort Worth, has structural problems that would require 'costly, extensive, and invasive work' to fix. District officials plan to build a new campus for Eastern Hills. Students at the school will go to West Handley Elementary School until the new building is finished, and the entire consolidated student body will move from West Handley to the new Eastern Hills in 2028.
